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Game of the Year [2018]

I don’t know how 2018 managed to do it, but it simultaneously felt like the longest and shortest year of my life. It was tumultuous to say the least, but we made it through and there’s no way things could get any worse, right? But throughout it all we were graced with some pretty phenomenal games to play. Here are what I consider to be the best of the year.

#10 – House Flipper

This is a weird one to kick off the list with, but hell, I played so much of this damn game that I’d be lying if I didn’t put it somewhere on this list. I wrote about the function of games like House Flipper in my life earlier this year, and this was the one that spurred it on. Oddly enough, the reason why I enjoyed House Flipper so much was because of my ability to disengage with it and just play it in the background. Despite it being janky, and a little crashy at times, I really enjoyed the loop of restoring, decorating and selling homes.

There’s something oddly therapeutic about House Flipper and games of its ilk, and that’s mostly why it now is immortalized in my list.

#9 – God of War

So look, I really enjoyed God of War this year, but definitely not as much as a lot of people out there did. Don’t get me wrong, it was a joy to play given the rewarding combat and engaging story, but that was about it for me. I didn’t get hooked by any of the side missions or additional challenges, and I felt a little underwhelmed by some of the enemy encounters. I really got sick of fighting that ogre with the rock, over and over again. But still, God of War is a tremendous game that I enjoyed from start to finish, even if I did just power through the story to get to the very satisfying ending.

#8 – Celeste

For the first few levels of Celeste, I was pretty lukewarm on it. I didn’t hate it or anything, it was just fine. But a few levels in and Celeste started to show a little more of its hand, and hint at what the game was really about. Celeste isn’t just a game about climbing a mountain, it’s about coping and acceptance. The game, very literally, reveals that it is about the main character accepting herself for who she is and utilizing every aspect of herself to continue pushing forward.

That’s when I was on the hook and and really started to feel compelled to press on. Celeste is one of those games that’s so good that any quibbles you might have with it are overshadowed.

#7 – Hitman 2

Hitman 2 is more Hitman 2016 and there isn’t a damn thing wrong with that. I love the new Hitman games and everything they’re bringing to the table. Blending into crowds and bushes are welcome additions to the formula, but overall this is just more of a good thing. I can’t say for certain, but in terms of objectives, map design and just what options are available to you, it feels like the developers are leaning into Hitman being less of a serious game, and more of a comedy sandbox. For that, I’m eternally grateful.

#6 – The Messenger

Holy moly The Messenger caught me off guard this year. When I heard people raving and ranting about this game, I was fully expecting it to be mostly hyperbole. It looked like a pretty neat homage to Ninja Gaiden and the like, but the more I played of it, the more The Messenger made it clear that first impressions are deceiving and that there was something truly special here. The Messenger was a blast to play and honestly, it’s really well written too. There’s also a pretty insane twist in the middle of the game that fundamentally changes everything, and while the change itself isn’t groundbreaking, it was definitely surprising.

In a year of phenomenal platformers and action games, The Messenger is definitely one of the best.

#5 – Dead Cells

Speaking of killer platformer and action games, how about we talk about Dead Cells? Boy howdy is Dead Cells a good game. If there was an award for “Best Feeling Game to Play,” Dead Cells would win it. It’s one of those games that whenever things go bad for you, you’re immediate thought isn’t to blame the game, but rather yourself. Dead Cells will punish you and try to break your spirit, but will leave you feeling so accomplished when you clear a level or beat a boss. Aside from that it’s also got a real good look to it that I appreciate.

My only real gripe is that I’m not a big fan of rogue-like games, and Dead Cells is most certainly one of those. While it wasn’t ever difficult to make it through the first few stages, I did start to feel burnt out on them and just wished for some sort of level skip feature or something. Despite that though, I love the hell out of Dead Cells.

#4 – Yoku’s Island Express

I’ve had a passing interest in pinball at best throughout most of my life, so the concept of a pinball based platformer wasn’t something that I had pictured I’d enjoy as much as I did. But here we are, talking about a game that in addition to having a really unique take on the Metroidvania style of game, is also immensely charming. Within moments of booting up Yoku’s Island Express it managed to win me over.

It’s also an immensely chill game to play. There aren’t really any enemies or fail states, and there never is any real pressure put on you. But what I really appreciated was that the game is tight experience that didn’t take more than a few hours to complete. It never overstayed its welcome, and left me satisfied at the end.

#3 – Dragon Ball Fighter Z

I did not expect to enjoy a fighting game as much as I did, let alone a Dragon Ball Z themed one, but here we are. Dragon Ball Fighter Z was a constant for me throughout the year, being one of my go-to games whenever I was looking to pass some time. I think what I really appreciate is how accessible the game is, and how whether it’s through some visual cue or mechanical one, it always makes you feel as if you’re playing well. The auto combo system is generous and allows new players to feel competitive early on, while also rewarding players for learning actual combinations and moves.

Dragon Ball Fighter Z can be a little hectic though. Sometimes I’ll lose myself in the action and lose track of what’s happening or where I’ve gone, but I think that’s just me admitting that I’m getting old.

#2 – Marvel’s Spider-Man

I really loved Marvel’s Spider-Man this year. Sure it had some problems, like bad stealth sections and bland side activities, but it was still overwhelmingly fun to play. Like a lot of people out there, it was one of the only games in a while I achieved 100% completion in. Normally I don’t try to achievement hunt in games, but I was looking for any reason to play more of the game that I could find.

I fear I’ll sound like a cliche here, but it felt so damn good to swing around as Spider-Man and just make my way through the city. What helped even more was the music that would swell every time you’d pick up momentum. Even the combat, despite being repetitive, felt so good. Something about just launching dudes off buildings and watching their bodies automatically web to the nearest surface was just so satisfying.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is not a perfect game, but I had a hell of a lot of fun with playing it. Also, turning J. Jonah Jameson into an Alex Jones-esque podcast host may have been the best decision ever.

#1 – Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily my favorite game of the year. It’s also ironic that the parts I least enjoyed about it were the parts where you actually played it. It felt like the game had an identity crisis at some point, wavering between being a survival game and an action game, but ultimately being extremely mediocre at both.

But it was everything around the periphery of the core mechanics that really won me over. Aside from a very enjoyable story with some really gut-wrenching moments, the random encounters and side missions were such a pleasure to track down and complete that it was worth fumbling around with the muddy controls to get to.

It’s one of the few game worlds that I enjoy taking my time in and exploring. It’s one of the few games that I just like to boot up and waste time in. Rockstar did something more impressive than make a good game, they made a world worth visiting. A place that is so rich and diverse, that rewards me whenever I decide to spend time in it.

Red Dead Redemption II isn’t a perfect game, in fact, I’d hazard a guess that it’s actually an incredibly polarizing game. But for me, coming into Red Dead Redemption II expecting a rewarding action game isn’t going to get you very far. I found that it was better experienced as a sort of cowboy themed life simulator, where you can just experience life in old west as an incredibly deadly man who also likes to pet dogs and get into bar fights.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Gardens Between

The Garden’s Between is a short puzzle game about two children reliving their memories one last time before one of them moves away. The hook is that you control time, and not the children. You’ll solve puzzles by manipulating the flow of time in ways like changing the order in which they punch in numbers on a giant calculator, or rewinding debris that’s floating in a river to provide a bridge for both of the children who are walking at different paces.

It’s all extremely stylized and has a soothing ambient soundtrack which I was very much a fan of.

Florence

What I liked about Florence the most was how it reveled in the mundanities of daily life, in and out of a relationship. You play as Florence, a girl who is increasingly dissatisfied with her life. She meets a nice young gentlemen and eventually falls in love with him. Through this, you explore their relationship by doing things such as moving some of your stuff off of the shelves to make room for his things. It’s simple yet effective in the message it sends and how it sends it.

The story went some places, and maybe I got a little choked up, but there’s no way of knowing for sure. Regardless, Florence is a delightful little experience that you can play on your phone and finish in about 20 to 30 minutes.

We Watched The Nintendo Press Briefing | E3 2018

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Nintendo invites us to have a smashing good time today.

Super Mario Party

Mario Party is a virus that somehow managed to spread to the Nintendo Switch. Make sure to get your Switch vaccinated to prevent any life threatening symptoms.

In theory Mario Party is neat, but in execution I think it’s been mostly terrible. It looks like a return to form for the series, but that form has never been something I’ve been enthused about in the first place. But this is great news for people who do.

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker

Yeah it might just be an updated version of the original Wii U release, but that game was so good and deserved better. I’m really happy that it’s getting a second chance on the Switch.

Overcooked 2

Overcooked 1 was a chaotic nightmare that was a blast to play with friends. Overcooked 2 looks like more of the same but with some extra features and scenarios bound to make you yell at the person sitting next to you.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Everyone is confirmed for Smash. Snake, Cloud, Sonic, you, me. We’re all confirmed. Your cousin, he’s confirmed for Smash as well. Smash Bros Ultimate, as the title implies, is the most comprehensive game in the series, bringing in characters and modes from all the previous entries. There’s a luchador Pikachu too, which might be the best inclusion I’ve ever seen.

But really, this trailer has just been the equivalent of a YouTube video of patch notes. It’s informative if you’re an active follower, but I really don’t care about the mechanics of Pichu. There are about 65 characters in this game, and each of them had a talking point to go over. This combined with the focus on the more advanced fighting techniques seems like Nintendo is leaning very hard into the competitive scene.

This looks to me like Nintendo is using Ultimate as a Smash Bros. platform that can be updated for the rest of the life cycle of the Switch, which is smart. Put out a comprehensive platform for one of the most popular Nintendo games.

Also, I guess that after more than twenty years of asking, they’re finally putting Ridley in the game. So now everyone will shut up I’m sure. And also it’s launching December 7th of this year, so get to preordering everyone.

Well that was sure something.

We Watched The Sony Press Briefing | E3 2018

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Hideo Kojima presents: The Sony 2018 E3 Press Briefing.

The Last of Us II

We open on the composer of The Last of Us sitting in the corner of the stage and playing some very somber tunes on his banjo. Without any gameplay happening. Just him playing the banjo. In this very small church themed venue.

Once he finishes, the lights fade and the footage begins. We open on some people having a party in the exact same venue the conference is happening in, which is weird but cool. We get some context to our main character, Ellie as she’s slow dancing with another woman and eventually kisses her. Then we get a fade to black and reemerge on her slitting a dudes fucking throat in the woods. Very romantic.

It’s all gameplay from here as we see Ellie creeping through the jungle and sneaking around enemy encampments. We come to a scene of some people simultaneously hanging and stabbing another dude which is insanely brutal and inefficient. Through a combination of using a bow and arrow as well as a hammer, she’s taking down her enemies. She eventually is shot at by a gunman which understandably, makes her start running away. She manages to get far enough away and hide under a truck, but eventually is found.

Here we get to see some of the more frantic gunplay and action. Everything seems incredibly dynamic in the way she seamlessly switches from firing a gun to picking up and throwing a brick at a dude to taking a human shield. She eventually ducks into a shop where the stealth elements make their return. While hiding, she crafts an explosive arrow which shes uses exactly how you’d expect. She finishes the last bad guy off and we get a wonderful transition back into the party where this all started.

It’s here I want to emphasize that all of this looks amazing. The animations, the art, all of it is fantastic. It blends from cutscene to gameplay and back and it does it flawlessly. I still don’t know much of anything about the story, but this segment has done enough to pique my interest.

Intermission

Yeah, so it’s here that I realized that they’re moving the audience of the venue into the main theater where the rest of the conference will take place. During this time we have a round table discussion about the current state of Sony and how it’s more recent successes are effecting new games and future decisions. Here they confirmed a new game plus mode for God of War.

They appear to be using this transitional moment to also showcase some trailers for other games. One of these was an ad for classic Black Ops maps available in the upcoming Black Ops IIII. We also learn that as of tonight, Call of Duty Black Ops III will be free for Playstation Plus members.

Ghosts of Tsushima

Here is a man playing an instrument I cannot name, but he blows into it and cool music comes out of the other end. The music stops and the footage starts rolling.

We see a Japanese warrior of some sort walking through a pretty fucked up battlefield with some mourning people crouched up and down the side of the road. He walks up to the top of a hill so we can admire the beauty of the world Sucker Punch has built. He calls for his horse, climbs aboard and sets off through the field and into the forest. Eventually we reach a clearing where some bad guys are executing another man. I’d say we were hacking and slashing through these dudes, but it’s way more deliberate and way more brutal.

We meet up with a companion of ours and run up to an enemy occupied temple. It looks like we’ve entered to stealth portion of this game. Our character climbs onto a roof and makes his way to an opening in the temple. He jumps down into the room and slow-mo murders 3 enemies before stabbing a guy through a door who attempts to sound the alarm.

Upon exiting the temple, our companion tries to pull some shit and challenges us in battle. It basically turns into a Soul Calibur/Bushido Blade game and it looks fucking mind blowing. Suddenly someone shoots fire arrows into the fray the entire field starts burning around them. Our companion and us stop fighting to team up against the incoming horde where it cuts to black and we see the logo.

I am in love with this game.

Control

What if Psy-Ops met Quantum Break? You’d get the latest Remedy game. A woman used psychic powers and guns to fuck people up in this Escher-ass looking game. It looks like a game that is aiming to mess with your mind and the trailer does a good job at establishing that. It’s slated for 2019, and I am onboard.

Death Stranding

So here we are, a Hideo Kojima game is being “shown” at E3. I’m surprised this isn’t just a big slide that just says “FUCK KONAMI.” We see gameplay of Norman Reedus and another guy trudging through various terrains while carrying cargo on their backs. Then, instead of carrying just cargo, we see a guy carrying what looks like a mummy around. At this point I think this is a weird moving and/or hiking simulator, until a guy pulls out a gun.

It’s right here that I realize that I’m trying to describe a Hideo Kojima trailer and I probably just sound like I’ve lost my mind. Invisible hand-footed monsters roam the land and Norman Reedus can’t be bothered to wear a shirt. I still have no idea what this game is about or how it plays but I didn’t expect that I’d find out tonight.

My guess he’s carrying a clone of himself around with him in the form of a baby in a jar. Then he did a sneaking bit past some floating ghost demons or something. I genuinely have no clue what I’m looking at. But Reedus gets swallowed up by the ground and we cut to a woman eating something followed by a cut to another woman standing on a beach dramatically.

I do not know what it is I just watched, nor do I know how I feel about it. Death Stranding ostensibly is a game that one day you might be able to buy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsviir16Ri0

Spiderman

We open with a crashing helicopter in which Spiderman, does Spiderman things with his spider webs to avoid any injuries. After the crash we get to see some awesome looking combat that reminds me of the Arkham games, but even faster and with some neat special moves sprinkled in.

The Sinister Six are on the loose and they’re all trying to fuck Spiderman up. They all go ahead and leave so Spiderman can fight some goons, which looks just as fun as it did a few seconds ago. After dispatching them, Electro taunts Spidey and starts fleeing. We get to see some real good looking web swinging which ends in Spiderman running up what looks like a massive elevator shaft so he can meet Electro and the gang on the roof.

At this point it’s just a cutscene where several baddies all team up on Spiderman and beat the living shit out of him. It ends with a cliffhanger of Spiderman on the ground in pain, looking up and saying something to the effect of “you?!” Then a quick fade to black and that’s it.

The show is now over and we cut back to the place where the intermission took place. Cool.

Overall, this was a bizarre conference that didn’t really surprise me that much outside of seeing some of that Ghosts of Tsushima.

We Watched The Ubisoft Press Briefing | E3 2018

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Ubisoft? Mebisoft? Webisoft.

Beyond Good & Evil 2

After the annual Just Dance live performance, we got a trailer that served as a tone piece for what to expect from BG&E2. Lot’s of surly anthropomorphic animals flying ships as well as cooking were on display. Of course, tragedy strikes when the spaceship they’re on is under attack by a gigantic monster spaceship. This is when they reveal that the first game’s protagonist, Jade, is what looks to be the big bad villain here.

We then get some developers talking us through the basic setup of the game and introducing the characters that will be in this poorly titled prequel. That aside, it was time for some gameplay. A massive city is on display that you can fly through in your own spaceship and exit at anytime to go beat the shit out enemies. It was pretty ambiguous honestly, but it looked really cool. They also said there was coop, so that’s awesome.

Then Joseph Gordon Levitt came out on stage and asked people to submit their artwork, music and writing to be possibly put in the game. There was no mention of compensation on stage, but he clarified that there would be payment, on his Twitter.

Trials Rising

At long last, a new Trials game is upon us, and I could not be happier. In classic Trials style, it seems like it’s going to be just as frustrating and fun as the previous entries. There was a shot of what looked like 8 people riding bikes on the same screen at the same time. So that seems like it could be a chaotic blast.

Shortly after this trailer, we learned that there is a beta you can sign up for, and the full game is slated for release in February of 2019.

The Division 2

The Division 2 was shown again, but not before we got a really dour speech about how the events of The Division came to be. Nothing says fun like Small Pox.

But we got a new trailer, once again it’s a tone piece. We see shots of people living well inside compounds, then some less than friendly behavior outside the gates; people being robbed, in hiding, or being executed. Then we see 3 nondescript Division soldiers walking down a mountain. But suddenly it’s time for another dour speech that tries to be inspiring about hope and bringing the right equipment and tactical abilities to Washington D.C.

But let’s talk about the game structure. Raids are going to be in The Division 2 featuring up to 8 player coop to tackle these much more difficult missions. They also went ahead and plotted out their DLC structure, stating all three of the first year updates and content drops will be free.

Now a gameplay trailer that opens with some upside down American flags and people shooting at other people. Once again, nothing terribly new on display, but there’s a beta to sign up for, and it’ll be released March of 2019.

Skull & Bones

Skull & Bones was next game that was shown that followed the trend of showing a tone piece trailer, having a developer come out and explain things, and then showing some gameplay.

I never enjoyed the Assassins Creed boat stuff that this game is inspired by, it just never did anything for me. So it’s tough for me to muster any real excitement for this game. Looks like you’ll be heading to a hub area to buy upgrades for most of the equipment on your ship, then setting sail. We see the player pirate ship flying a fake flag to fool the sea cops before moving to intercept a convoy carrying some hot booty. Enough damage was done to the other ships that the player was able to board them and plunder them.

Oh no, a high level enemy is in the distance, luckily there’s multiplayer to help us out with that problem. Other players have joined the fray launching all forms of cannon fire at this large, evil galleon.

It’s right here that I realize we’ve spent way more time on this than I cared to see.

The big evil galleon is sunk, and unsurprisingly all the other pirate ships have turned on each other and attacked one another. Cut to black, and we’re done. You can sign up for the beta or wait for the 2019 release.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

As cool as AC: Odyssey looks, I’m genuinely disappointed that we’re back to getting another of these so quickly after Origins. While it isn’t like they just re-skinned Origins with a coat of Greek paint, it just feels a little soon in my opinion.

Aside from my personal feelings about the game, it looks actually pretty interesting. A large focus on RPG elements with dialogue options and choosing your player character. It seems like the natural progression of where Assassin’s Creed needs to go and I’m all for it. There also appeared to be a romantic options you could explore, at least that’s what I gathered from the “heart” icon next to one of the dialogue choices.

We didn’t shake the annoying “walk and talk” segments from previous AC games, but this one seems to have shortened it. They also kept the Phylakes style roaming mercenaries hunting you down on the map stuff from Origins. A feature I didn’t much care for, but others seemed to enjoy. There also are larger scale battles on display here which look like a nice change of pace.

All things considered it looks really neat and I’m curious in checking it out when it arrives on October 5th of this year.

There was no mention of Splinter Cell. I am the saddest man.

We Watched The Square Enix Press Briefing | E3 2018

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The Final Fantasy VII remake is totally real. Please believe us.

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

The show opened with a short sequence of a plane crashing which probably isn’t a great time for Lara Croft. After that we cut to gameplay of Lara hiding in a tree and shooting a poisonous arrow at a guy that made him lose his mind before he ultimately died. We then see her perform some takedowns on unsuspecting dudes before slathering herself in mud to blend into the environment. All of what we’re seeing here is stealth gameplay until Lara leaps out from the bushes to stab a dude in the face. Somehow she escapes that situation unnoticed, only for her to throw an ignited gas canister on top of three dudes so she can watch them burn alive.

It looked pretty cool, but aside from some mud-rubbin’ I didn’t really see much that differentiates it from its predecessors. Still, I like this series well enough to check it out when it releases later this year.

The Awesome Adventures Of Captain Spirit

We saw some of this at Microsoft’s briefing, but we got a different look at it here. We are quickly reminded that this isn’t Life is Strange 2, but an introduction to the world of Life is Strange. It seems to build upon the idea that based on whatever adventure this kid imagines in his mind, you’ll get a new gameplay experience. Whereas Life is Strange was built around rewinding time, this looks like it will allow for the player play with different kinds of mechanics based on the adventure. But that’s just my best guess.

We’ll find out on June 26th when it releases for free.

Baylon’s Fall

It’s a Platinum game about slashing through some sort of medieval styled world. Not much stood out to me here outside of the fact it looked like a Bayonetta game with an illusion to 4 player coop right at the end. So it could be cool, but there’s not much to go on right now.

Just Cause 4

Taking place in South America, once again Rico Rodriguez is sent in to fight an oppressive regime and tornadoes. There are claims that weather is going to be the big defining characteristic in this entry, blizzards and tornadoes being the highlights. Also in addition to the rocket boosters and grappling hooks, you’ll get these cool balloons you can attach to things so you can make your enemies just slowly float away. Looks pretty awesome, but we’ll see if it pans out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK5Ule_0KBY

The Quiet Man

What appeared to be an actual video of a man walking into an alley and getting heckled by stereotypical gang members, made a weird transition into gameplay of him brawling with them and kicking their asses. Also he’s deaf. Could this be The Bouncer sequel we’ve all been waiting for? Perhaps. We’ll learn more in August.

Then the conference just ended. No mention of their Avengers project, no mention of the Final Fantasy VII remake, and the same incomprehensible Kingdom Hearts III trailer from the Microsoft briefing yesterday.

We Watched The Bethesda Press Briefing | E3 2018

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We’re not mad at Wal Mart for leaking RAGE 2, we’re just disappointed.

RAGE 2

They brought out Andrew WK for this. There was no gameplay or trailer at first, just Andrew WK and his band playing the trailer song. Then the stream kept cutting to these people who were mildly disapproving of his music. After the one song concert, two directors on RAGE 2 came out and decided to actually show the game. But not before the longest five minutes of awkward conversation ever.

The game itself looks pretty neat. The first big bullet point was “If you see it, you can drive it”, which was an odd thing for them to lead with. But it looked like Avalanche expanded on the car combat stuff from the Mad Max game they put out a few years back. The gun play looked frantic and fast paced will some cool abilities on display.

The whole thing has an aesthetic and are leaning into it super hard. It’s over-the-top in a way that I’m definitely into. It’ll be available in Spring 2018.

DOOM Eternal

The sequel to the amazing 2016 Doom reboot arrives with an odd name, but it’s more Doom, so I’m in. No additional information was given, but we were told at Quakecon this year we would see more of it. From the look of things though, I’d say that hell has come to Earth, and we’re pretty fucked.

Fallout 76

Todd Howard walked out and did a few minutes of his rehearsed standup routine about E3. He killed that room. Then they decided to make a joke about porting Skyrim to the Amazon Alexa. I thought it was very well done. Keegan Michael Key was in it, and he was very funny.

But then it was time for Fallout 76. Set in the hills of West Virginia, you are among the first to tame this land. That’s more or less what he said. At this point I’ve seen a version of this Fallout 76 trailer 3 times. This trailer in particular was the exact same one they showed at the Microsoft event earlier today.

Finally we’ve arrived at gameplay. The staples of Fallout are on display, there’s a Pip-Boy, a floating robot, a vault and you leaving it. After boasting the graphical fidelity of their world, they went to off to highlight some new enemies and nightmare creatures you’ll fight on your journey.

At this point they dropped the multiplayer bombshell and announced that it is “entirely online.” They address some questions right off the bat. Of course you can go it solo and experience the story and world on your own. Then they emphasized that it is an open world survival game that wont have massive player counts to help it feel like you’re still in an apocalypse. You keep your progress and dying doesn’t cost you anything significant which is good news.

We now see some cooperative gameplay mostly of people shooting stuff, but also emoting at each other and playing instruments together. Oh also you can build shit. Yeah, they blew out that building system from Fallout 4 so you can build a base camp and customize it with all the atomic garbage your heart desires. You and your friends can build settlements which various creatures can come and fuck up from time to time should they please. After killing said creatures, you can pop into a photo mode together and memorialize the moment forever.

Oh, also, there’s just fucking nuclear missile sites you can go to and activate. You’ll have to clear out a silo, collect various nuclear codes, and then you can launch a whole nuke at some other players if you want.

Now that we’ve got the gameplay out of the way. They announced a beta that at the moment of writing this, I don’t know if you can actually sign up for because as you’d expect, the site isn’t handling the entire load of the internet too well. And now for a weird pivot to the cool ways you can pay for this game. You can buy yourself a version of this game that comes with a glow in the dark map and a power suit helmet you can wear if you really feel like it.

Fallout 76 comes out this year on November 14th, 2018.

The Elder Scrolls Blades

What happens if you take the Elder Scrolls and put it on a phone with Infinity Blade style Combat? You get what looks like a fairly robust Elder Scrolls game that you can take with you. Battery devouring aside, it genuinely looks impressive for what it is. I almost typed out that I wasn’t sure who would play this game, but then I remembered it’s an Elder Scrolls game and the internet exists. With a full story, a variety of modes and some social elements that remind me of Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, this looks like a neat game. It’s free to play, but you can pre-order it for reasons.

Starfield

“And one more thing…” The classic E3 moment lives on with a teaser of the first new property Bethesda has created in 25 years, called Starfield. It was just a video clip of a planet, so who knows what that is. But it’ll be a while till we find out. My guess is it’s gonna be a Bethesda RPG, but in space. Bold prediction, I know.

The Elder Scrolls VI

“And one more other thing…” They showed a large mass of land with the text “The Elder Scrolls VI” and received a standing ovation. “We’re working on it, so please shut the hell up already.” TES VI is slated for release after Starfield, so who’s to say if it will even be on the current generation of consoles and hardware.

We Watched The Microsoft Press Briefing | E3 2018

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Grab your game passes and get your asses in line, cause it’s Microsoft time.

Halo Infinite

No real info given outside of a trailer. Seems as if they’re launching a platform for Halo as well as a campaign. It’s unclear as to what makes this different enough to not call it Halo 6, but I’m definitely intrigued.

Ori & The Will of the Wisps

Following up the tremendous Ori & The Blind Forest is something that very much appears like its predecessor with enhanced combat and more mobility options. Not much info was given here aside from a general tone piece and some gameplay.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Initially I thought this was a Dark Souls-esque re-imagining of the Tenchu series. While I wasn’t too far off, it has a different name and seem to have more exploration and mobility options. Here we have something that invokes Bloodborne and God of War. Time will tell if it’s as gross as those games, but it definitely is trying.

Fallout 76

It appears all the rumors were true and this is prequel to all other games. It’s said to be 4 times the size of Fallout 4 and is a base building focused multiplayer game. No surprises here. More to come when we see it at the Bethesda Briefing.

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

This is billed as a story in the same universe of Life is Strange, but not featuring the same characters. With a focus on a young boy and his imagination, it looks like you’ll be seeing a bunch of fantastical stories with different settings, featuring him. It’s releasing for free on June 26th.

Crackdown 3

Terry Crews is yelling a lot, while a virtual Terry Crews is blowing shit up, and driving up walls. Nothing else really revealed. Allegedly releasing early next year.

We Happy Few

We Happy Few seems to have pivoted from its survival roots and has become more story focused. It shares a weird vibe with the Bioshock series which isn’t a bad thing. I personally prefer this approach to their original pitch, but I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground with that one. It’s out on August 10th.

The Division 2

They’re going for it with the setting and story. Shit went real bad in Washington DC apparently. It looks really good graphically but didn’t do much to differentiate itself from the original. From what I gather the end of the trailer sets up the idea that you and your friends can storm other player run bases.

ID@Xbox

This was just one of those classic “indie game montages.” I went ahead and picked out the games that looked interesting.

Afterparty
Outerwilds
Below
Conquerors Blade
Raji
Planet Alpha
Islands of Nine
Harold Halibut
The Wind Road
Ashen
Sable

Shadow of The Tomb Raider

What else can I say about this game? If you liked the previous games or the Uncharted series, this is probably a safe bet as far as games you’ll enjoy. If it builds upon the already rock solid formula of its predecessors, we’ll be in for another fantastic entry in the series.

Session.

Totally got my hopes up for Skate 4. But where EA refuses to deliver, smaller studios will step in. That’s what’s happening with Session. I’ve played the very early demo they put out a while ago and I wasn’t terribly impressed. Hopefully there have been big improvements since I’ve played it and it will fill that skateboard shaped hole in my heart.

Tunic

This game still looks out of this fucking world. It’s a Zelda-esque, isometric action-adventure game that looks charming as all hell. I humbly request that Tunic is released this moment.

Dying Light 2

More parkour, more zombies. Actually they really didn’t show any zombies, there was way more human drama. I prefer the focus on the people rather than the zombies, honestly. There’s a big focus on player choice, for example they showed dialogue options that effect your standing with various factions, which in turn, effect the world and missions you do.

Battletoads

No footage to show, but it has 3 player co-op. So yeah.

Just Cause 4

It’s Just Cause. You know what this game is. It might as well be called “Grappling Hooks and Explosions” at this point. It looked pretty neat, although then again, so did JC3. They showed a tornado, so that could be fun.

Gears Pop!

What if Gears of war, but Funko Pop and on phones? Huh? I guess that’s what this is. God help us all.

Gears Tactics

Looks like a tower defense, X-Com looking game. They really breezed through this announcement.

Gears 5

No “of War” on these games. It’s perplexing. They’re really leaning into the story with this trailer, and as someone who has not finished Gears of War 4, I have no idea what’s going on. But it looks like a personal journey featuring the lady from Gears of War 4. It looks nice and has cover shooting.

Cyberpunk 2077

I wasn’t a huge fan of The Witcher 3 mostly because of its setting. Cyberpunk 2077 seems to be everything I wanted out of the Witcher, but with more guns and neon. Sign me the hell up.

We Watched The EA Press Briefing | E3 2018

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According to the loot tables, this conference only comes out once a year!

BATTLEFIELD V

They opened up the show with Battlefield V, which by all accounts was one of the more interesting things at the EA briefing today. There was a big emphasis on destruction and mobility. A lot of houses getting bowled over by tanks while other tanks were towing mounted guns around.

EA made a point to say that this was their vision of World War 2. Basically a final clarification to the people complaining about historical accuracy on the internet. Being the first game shown, Battlefield V started the trend of touting “no lootboxes” throughout the presentation.

I also get the impression that there will be some focus on building things in the multiplayer. There was a shot of someone holding a hammer, followed by soldiers stacking sandbags, which was followed by a tank hitching up a mounted gun and driving away with it. That might be a reach though.

Also there’s a battle royale mode, because it’s 2018.

Origin Access Premier

It seems like some sort of hybrid game streaming service that incorporates the existing Origin Access games and subscription. It invokes the Xbox Game Pass in some ways, especially with them saying it will include all PC EA games going forward.

Actual in engine render of Jedi: Fallen Order.

Jedi: Fallen Order

A wild Vince Zampella (Head of Respawn) was spotted in the crowd and gave some vague details about their upcoming Star Wars game, called Jedi: Fallen Order. No details aside from it taking place between episode 3 and 4 were given, except for Zampella emphasizing it was the “Dark Times” and it would release in Holiday of 2019.

Star Wars Battlefront II

Battlefront II was brought out on stage again to mostly apologize for the loot boxes debacle and to explain that they have improved that system greatly. That was followed by the announcement of some new modes, both competitive and cooperative, as well as announcing that future content will revolve around the Solo movie as well as the Clone Wars era. Now we can all act out our favorite moments from the Clone Wars, when we get to play as General Grevious.

Unravel Two

Unravel Two is deliberately spelled out rather than numbered, because its a cooperative game now. You play as 2 yarn boys who use each other to solve puzzles in this gorgeous world. The experience can be played solo, or via drop in coop. Also, it’s out right now for $19.99.

Sea of Solitude (SOS)

Continuing the trend of having very excited and earnest indie developers on stage, EA introduced us to Sea of Solitude. SOS as they intentionally refer to it, is a game about balancing your emotions, both good and bad. Also it’s about helping a girl transform back into a human because she got too lonely and turned into a monster the way all humans do. It is slated to be available early 2019.

Command & Conquer Rivals

EA brought out the Shoutcasters and had them commentate over a game of Command & Conquer Rivals, a mobile game that looks to speed up and simplify the C&C experience. I’ve never been a C&C guy, but this seemed interesting for what it was. A “pre-alpha” version of it is available now on Android, with a full release coming to iOS as well sometime in the near future.

Talking Points

Right before we dipped into the Anthem experience, we took a moment to hear about how EA values you, your time, your money and your gaming experiences. They followed that with an apology for their bad monetization practices, and hard pivoted to the Play to Give Foundation which promotes exclusivity and acceptance in gaming spaces. They donated a million dollars want you to know that.

Anthem

So this Anthem presentation was weird. It was more or less a round table discussion about each of the core aspects of Anthem. They explained their design process as well as story stuff and mechanics, but did it while the same 4 clips of gameplay kept looping over and over with repeating shots of concept art sprinkled in for good measure. It had me really worried that they had nothing to show on Anthem.

There was a weird moment where they basically called out Destiny, claiming that other games in a similar vein dropped the ball on the story experience. Then came a totally real, Q&A segment with questions from Twitter. One question asked about customizing your appearance. The answer was obviously a yes. The next was about loot boxes and micro-transactions. There will be no loot boxes, and you’ll always know what you’re paying for. So paying for cosmetics is almost a guarantee. Up till right about here, this Anthem presentation was insufferably dull.

Then they showed some gameplay of the classes and gun play. There are some neat abilities and weapons that were on display, but the core loop of the game is you shoot things to make numbers pop out of them. There’s a combo system that appears to inflict more damage when players use powers correctly simultaneously, and a lot of flying around like Iron Man. You have the equivalent of a ghost, he is British and snarky. Aside from that, they once again emphasized the story by saying if you’re a solo player, you’ll have a lot to experience here, but it might be a bit more challenging.

Anthem is set to release on February 22nd, 2019.

E3 2018: Our Plans

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This year I decided to do something different for covering E3. Normally I’d just sit on Twitter and make snarky comments about everything that’s shown, but why focus on Twitter when I have a website I could inundate with my words?

I’m going to try and highlight the things that I’m interested in or that are so glaringly bizarre that not writing something about them would be insane. So don’t expect comprehensive coverage, I don’t have the time nor the resources for that. And quite frankly, that’s boring, there are dozens of other places doing that.

So that’s the weird way we’re doing things here at The Bonus World.

Ari’s Game of the Year List [2017]

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Video games, lets talk about em. The year has come to end and it’s about time for me to share my thoughts on the ones I played. 2017 has been a hell of a year, so lets dive right in.

Personally, the game that has endured through 2017 and has been a calming respite remains to be Cities: Skylines. There’s something nice and relaxing about building a new city from the ground up and swearing that this time, there will be no traffic jams. With the addition of some great mods and add-ons that allow me to get more granular than before, I’m continuing to find joy in watching my little hamlet transform into the next Times Square, even if I never play it right.

Alongside of Cities: Skylines, I’ve also been able to return to Astroneer from time to time and see it progressing quite nicely. There’s been noticeable performance enhancements and new feature drops that have made it a delight to return to. As well as that, my favorite game of last year, Hitman, continues to be as fun as ever especially since giving me the ability to attempt the Elusive Targets I’d missed, once more.

Swing and a Miss

It’s probably obvious, but one of the biggest flops of the year in my eyes had to be Mass Effect Andromeda. Right from when EA and Bioware pitched the premise of the game I recall feeling the slightest tinge of skepticism. A story that ran parallel to the events of the original trilogy but also made sure to remove the possibility of ever seeing any familiar characters was enough of a bummer until the game came out. It was so boring and uneventful. Every aspect of Andromeda seemed to be an artists interpenetration of what made Mass Effect great without ever understanding the reasons behind its success. “We gave them aliens to bone, put that shitty car back in, and let them explore the planets that have nothing interesting on them. What more could they want?!” Mass Effect Andromeda was such a damn bummer.

I Think Something is Wrong With Me

I feel so strange. Even now if you were to tell me that I could fight robot-dinosaurs in a post apocalyptic setting with a bunch of science-fictiony intrigue sprinkled on there for good measure, I’d justifiably lose my mind. So then why didn’t Horizon Zero Dawn do anything for me? Everything about that game was wonderful. It looked amazing, it was fun to play and also there were freaking robot-dinosaurs to kill. Many would attribute bouncing off of Horizon due to The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of The Wild releasing 3 days later. But even before that, from the moment they let me loose in the open world, I just had no desire to explore or learn about these characters. I think I wanted to learn more about the fall of modern civilization and where the robots came from a lot sooner than the game wanted to tell me about it. I still don’t know how that game wraps up. Maybe I’ll give it a go in 2018, but who knows.

Along those lines, the game people kept telling me about was NieR: Automata. I was so intrigued by what I had heard about this game that I was desperate to try it. I was told that I needed to beat it a third time to really some crazy shit. But after the first time around I had no interest in forcing my way through it several more times. Another game that I really wanted to like was Absolver. I wrote a piece about my feelings about the difficulty and how it failed to resonate with me, but the quick and dirty version is that I never felt like I was getting better, I only felt like I got lucky.

Bring Your Friends

Some people are an army of one, others like myself are very much not. That’s why the only way I’ve played PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds has been with my friends. We’ve even streamed a whole bunch of it because we play it that much. From defeating another squad who thought they were alone, to flipping just about every vehicle we ever touched, and of course getting that chicken dinner together, PUBG is packed with reasons why it’s the best game I’ve played with friends all year.

But where PUBG is very tactical and requires a ton of coordination, sometimes you just need pure chaos to have fun. Stick Fight and Gang Beasts are two games that released this year that exemplify that mentality. They’re both janky and glitchy enough to where the physics themselves become a new character you’ll have to contend with. But it’s all fun and lighthearted which makes them a blast to play when you’ve got a couple of friends around.

Game of the Year

This year, before most of the biggest titles came out, a little game called Night in the Woods released on the PC and PS4. Night in the Woods is a game that resonated with me on a fundamental level and mirrored a lot of my experiences in life. It told a story that struck me on an emotional level while also having an awesome sense of humor and painfully charming aesthetic. I still have trouble expressing every reason why Night in the Woods was so wonderful in my eyes. Sometimes a game just hits you the right way, and that’s what happened here. It’s the game I’ve thought about most this year and have replayed twice already. Night in the Woods is easily one of my favorite games. Click here for a more complete version of my thoughts.

A close second this year, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is perhaps the most unsurprising entry in this list. I won’t beat a dead horse here, we all know why Breath of the Wild is on so many GOTY lists. It’s an achievement in a systems-driven, open world game. It’s the epitome of “you see that? You can go there.” But the best part about that, is there’s always something to do when you get “there.” It’s truly a phenomenal game and what’s even more impressive is that it made me love a Zelda game the way no other entry in the franchise has.

Where Night in the Woods and Zelda were locked in for a long time, this third entry took me a lot of time to decide on. While I have plenty of great things to say about PUBG and why it’s one of my favorite games this year, I have to give the edge to Super Mario Odyssey. Mario Odyssey isn’t a perfect game, but it’s just so damn charming. In a year where you could look around and have found plenty of reasons to be scared upset or angry, Odyssey was just this beacon of color and positivity that I needed.

Lastly, I’d like to just add one more thing.

2017 has, for lack of a better term, been an interesting year. The games were (mostly) good while a lot of things outside of the industry maybe weren’t as great. With that in mind I’d like to thank everyone for watching our videos and reading the occasional features we put up. You have no idea how much your support means to us.

I hope that 2018 is a better year… like, in general. So Happy New Year everyone. Be good to each other.