OK! I have been thinking about this since you first mentioned it and I think I have my top ten ready. Some of these I have not completed, but have gotten quite a ways in so I feel as though they have given a great representation of themselves. Here they are in reverse order:
10: Two Point Hospital
I have played a lot of Theme Hospital in my younger days.
It was easily my favourite of the Theme games and having a more up to date and fuller version of the game is tremendous. This is the kind of spiritual remake that I love. All the quirky humour and style of the original is here but with more!
It is a delightful way to spend a few hours trying to build an efficient ghost free hospital and I applaud the creators for not deviating drastically from the formula.
09: Doki Doki Literature Club
This was a wonderful revelation. I had only played two or three visual novels before this one and I was badgered into it by Lady VG as she had been watching videos on scary games.
I want to keep this little blurb as spoiler free as possible so all I will say is this was a fantastic little experience and the pair of us had a great time.
08: Spider-man
An open world game with the greatest travel method of all time, a story that befits the lead and some pretty amazing graphics to boot.
Plus, I mean it when I say the greatest travel method of all time! Swinging around a very well-made New York city as Spider-man is an utter joy and because of this, going to grab collectibles does not feel like a chore.
Crazy to believe that those responsible for Sunset Overdrive went on to make this right after! It is Spectacular!
07: God of War
This is my first God of War game and from the very first moments I could tell I was in for something amazing. The opening cut scene being the in game engine blew me away.
I love the ‘one take’ style (ruined by my dying quite a bit!) and feel like it enhances the story and game rather than taking from it.
Everything feels heavy and powerful. The interaction between both Atreus and Kratos is played wonderfully and is deserving of the praise it receives.
06: Celeste
(not completed)
I love platformers. I love them. They are my favourite gaming genre and Super Mario Brothers 3 was the first game I ever completed on my own. Celeste has the same level of care, control, music and look as SMB3 in my opinion.
It has multiple levels of engagement, with both a nice simple mode so you can get through the level and see how it fits together, and c-sides which are even harder versions of already more difficult b-sides.
The platforming is tight and never unfair, pushing you to get better at the controls. The punishment for failure is simply to reappear at the entrance to the screen you are on. This is a sublime game and out of all those on the list for the real game awards, I hope it wins.
05: Everybody’s Golf
The best golfing arcade sim I have played. This is my ‘unwind for fun’ game where I will turn on Spotify, boot up a mini tournament and try for those eagles!
There is a whole range of options for play style so you can make your own fun whenever you want, and playing against real people is also a joy. Just a great version of a great golf game!
04: Destiny 2
This was kind of a revelation. I am not a big halo fan and got Destiny 1 on PS4 for about £5 in the latter half of 2017. I liked Destiny 1 but was hamstrung with the controller. I much prefer my FPS games with mouse and keyboard. Destiny 2 came with one of my PC humble monthly bundles and the season pass was £12 so I thought, why not? I had always wanted Destiny on PC, perhaps this will be as good.
Needless to say, I love it. I love everything about it. It is such a tight shooter with great mechanics and feel. It looks amazing, absolutely beautiful levels and terrain while sticking at 60fps with my terrible little broken PC.
I have spent nearly 100 hours on this just messing around with bounties and adventures and the campaign. I look forward to where this game goes!
AND FINALLY, TOP THREE OF 2018:
03: Wolfenstein 2
Wolfenstein: The New Order’s story hooked into me like very few FPS games ever have. I fell for BJ and Anya and I wanted to see the Nazis crushed by Terror Billy! It also helped that it was very generous in its control scheme and I was able to play despite using a DS4. When those credits rolled, I wanted more.
Wolfenstein: The New Colossus gave me that more I desired. The story is even greater than before! There are more outlandish locations, but the very real personality of BJ is still as grounded as ever. His and Anya’s tale is one I enjoyed every minute spent with. Going to space was incredible as was shooting the propaganda film. It is darkly humorous too and those who deserve comeuppance get it in spades.
I eagerly await the third to put an end to it all!
02: Yakuza 0
This was a lovely surprise. I had seen the PS4 thread talk about it a lot, but did not quite know what I was in for until I started it three weeks ago. This is a game with more heart, more humour, more drama and more underwear dancing men than often seen.
I am currently on the fifth chapter, but the near 30 hours I have already spent in game is enough to put it into the number 2 spot with ease. The translation on this game is amazing and so wonderfully brilliant that I seem to screenshot everything I see because it is just so funny or intelligent or touching!
The side quests are an utter joy and range from the normal sort of thing you would get in an open world game to the downright bizarre but all of them have been entertaining. Yakuza 0 is brilliant.
Just amazing and I heartily recommend it for the poignant wackiness that it will bestow upon you.
01: Nier:Automata
This game is number 2 on my own personal Game of All-Time list. I love this game. I love every last little thing about it.
I have never experienced a game like Nier:Automata and I am not sure if I will again. This game stoked emotions up in me that I never would have expected.
It is a game about hope, about routines and about yourself.
The soundtrack is one of, if not the, greatest video game soundtracks ever made. It has wonderfully dynamic layered music that seamlessly builds and ebbs depending on where you are in the world and what you are doing.
It has a wonderfully unique mix of all kinds of gameplay: shoot em ups, third person brawler, top down twin stick and side on platforming like NSMB.
It has a story that delved right into my soul and engaged me at such a base level that I still well up at the thought of what happened and what I did.
This game gets so much praise from me, so very much love and adoration that I worry I heap too much hyperbole onto it. I cannot quite put into spoiler free words the way I feel about having experienced all of it.
I am so, so, so glad it is part of my life and gaming memories and I thank Yoko Taro from the bottom of my heart.