Tomas’s Top Ten Personal Favorite Games of 2018

2018 was the year that I started writing and occasionally starring on the Gaming Outsider podcast as the resident (point-and-click) adventure game enthusiast. It was also the year I got to meet the crew in real life. They even let me co-host an entire episode! They probably regret that now, but needless to say this was a great experience for me.

It was a joy to review most of these games. It was awesome to connect with the adventure game community online as well. 2018 was a difficult year for me personally, but rediscovering many classic adventure games, writing reviews for the Gaming Outsider and the positive response I got about them was an important aspect of what made this year bearable.

The last month made me end the year on quite a high, though! So thank you to the crew of the GO, and especially all the listeners of this fun little podcast, because it is ‘you the community’ that makes it all possible. And the fact that Scott Clark doesn’t sleep. At all.

Honorable Mention #1 – Tango: The Adventure Game

Gualicho Games gave us their first effort in point-and-click in this charming tale about Carlos Gardel, the king of Tango! Help Carlos escape from jail and explore how his wonderful life came to be. They made a very nice game, that is just way too short! I want more tango! So please go get this game if you like adventures, and help these guys make the sequel, so we can find out how this larger-than-life tale continues and continue to enjoy the beautiful music used in the game.

Honorable Mention #2 – Hypergun

I’m not much of a shooter fan. As I say in my review, it’s not that I don’t like them, it’s more that I’ve never been very good at them. I have a tendency with these games to give up if I don’t do well after a few tries. But because I was reviewing this one, I had to persist. And lo and behold, I actually started to like the game! It has a good sense of humor, it’s bloody relentless and I was making more progress than I ever thought possible. That alone merits NVYVE’s Hypergun’s place as an honorable mention on my list. That, and the fact that you play a janitor who saves the world. Janitors are cool.

Honorable Mention #3 – Madden 19/FIFA 19

Community members who know me, have probably fallen off their chair seeing EA Games’ Madden on my list. My opinion about American handegg game is well known. However, after having battled the mighty Chris Owens (and losing 42-0) in Madden 18, and playing all 83 solo challenges of Madden 19 (while building quite an impressive MUT team), I noticed that I secretly had developed a liking to the game. Not enough to make any impact in a fantasy ‘football’ league or anything, mind. Which brings me to FIFA 19. The biggest game on the planet about the biggest sport on the planet. Some changes in gameplay, some improvements in graphics, a smashing soundtrack and the fact that I somehow managed to get Cristiano Ronaldo in my Ultimate Team is enough for me to put it on this list, tied with Madden. And I kicked Chris Owens’ ass all over the pitch in a best of three, despite him putting up some excellent resistance. It’s the Beautiful Game, folks. Real football. It deserves to be here.

 

By now you must be curious about my top 10 of the year 2018. My first review was published in September and most of my list is also from the the second half of the year, as I played the most new games then. If you thought adventure gaming was dead, think again, because we got some great new additions this year, including several stone-cold masterpieces. If this sets the tone for the market, I can’t wait to see what 2019 will bring us.

#10 – Battlefield V

One word: War Stories. Ok, two words then. As I said earlier, I’m not much of a FPS player. But Battlefield V by EA Games, returning to World War 2 after having explored the trenches in World War 1 in BF1, is just a smashing game. The War Stories are the important reason for this. You are put in several different roles during the mighty conflict, in different arenas ranging from the deserts of Africa to the frozen wastes of Norway. These war stories cover untold exploits of unknown soldiers. You play a British criminal-turned-commando having to blow up nazi supplies, a Senegalese soldier fighting for a country he has never visited before, and a Norwegian resistance fighter trying to save her mother from certain death and thwart the nazis along the way. The stories are really interesting, the gameplay is remarkable and the graphics are stunning. Because there are different difficulties to play in, made the game accessible for noobs like me and I had a lot of fun (and occasional frustration) playing it.

#9 – Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Don’t Dry

Larry Laffer’s back, baby! Gaming’s most lovable loser re-entered the stratosphere of adventure gaming, much to the delight of many. But would he hold up? When it was announced a new Leisure Suit Larry game was coming out, I was ecstatic. The Larry games were among the first adventure games I ever played, and even though the quality of the series had been lacking in the later entries and Larry’s creator Al Lowe wasn’t involved, I was really looking forward to this one. It’s not Sierra Online, but German studio CrazyBunch that was responsible for this version. I was both relieved, and elated to experience, that they managed to bring the dinosaur that is Larry Laffer into the #metoo era with plenty of humor and satire of the climate we live in. It bodes well for the future of the Larry franchise, as this is a game made with a lot of love for the character without losing sight of what makes this character work now.

#8 – Tsioque

In Tsioque (pronounced ‘chalk’) you play the princess Tsioque, trying to escape the clutches of an evil wizard that has taken over the magical castle with his minions after the Queen left to go and fight. The game is produced by Ohnoo Studio and Smile and is a delightfully and occasionally dark fairytale. It has the sort of twist near the end that makes you rethink everything you saw before, which is something I appreciate a lot. Its hand-drawn art is gorgeous and despite some overlong arcade parts and it being quite short, it’s a completed story and is well worth the play. I enjoyed it for what it was and highly recommend it.

#7 – Nairi: Tower of Shirin

HomeBearStudio graced us with their first game, and it’s definitely the cutest game of the year. With Nairi: Tower of Shirin they gave birth to a beautiful point-and-click/visual novel hybrid. The puzzles were challenging enough to be interesting without grinding the story to a halt. HomeBearStudio created a captivating mythology of anthropomorphised animals living together with humans in an Arabian Nights-esque world filled with mystery and danger. I was surprised to see that the story was a lot more serious than its cutesy characters lead on. It goes to some dark places, involving kidnapping, murder and religion. It was a joy to play, especially when after playing it I found out that not only was a Dutch game designer involved, he also studied at the same university I have worked for in the past. They delivered a great product. Go out and play it.

#6 – God of War

This game needs no introduction. I know I am very late to the party, and the only reason I get to play this game is because our GO Overlord Scott Clark was incredibly generous to give it to me as a Christmas present. He probably knew I was gonna love this game and he wasn’t wrong. It took me a while to get into it, as I am a PC gamer and still not very used to playing with a controller unless it’s FIFA. But what a story! What sumptuous graphics! What bloody combat! What great acting! I must confess, I think I’m not even halfway through, but I’ve played enough to put this game halfway through this list. When I finish it, it might even end up higher. And the only reason I’m not playing it right now, is because I need to finish this article. It’s my first experience playing a God of War game, and if the games are this good, it will not be the last. This franchise gained a new fan.

#5 – Marvel Strike Force

Marvel is hot. Insanely hot. It almost seems like anything the studio touches right now turns into gold. So why not add another mobile Marvel fight game to the roster? This one’s made by FoxNext, and is basically Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes with Marvel superheroes and villains. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not! The game was introduced with a lot of fanfare, got off to a tentative start, but has really come into its own lately. It’s a really simple premise: the Kree warlord Ultimus has corrupted many heroes and villains in other dimensions, and used them to conquer those dimensions. Now he’s trying to conquer our dimension, and Nick Fury is assembling a strike force to counter this. You as the player, collects these characters and minions and forms teams with them to play against Ultimus and other players’ squads. I’ve been playing it since it was released and I am currently kicking ass with my Defenders squad. It’s taking up way too much of my time, but it’s a fun distraction, and I’m getting a great team of characters together. Make Mine Marvel!

#4 – Lamplight City

Ah, Steampunk. There definitely isn’t enough Steampunk in this world. Luckily for me, Grundislav Games gave me a new fix in 2018 with this great point and click adventure game, set in the fictional, 19th-century city of Vespuccia. In Lamplight City you play private eye Miles Fordham, who left the police force after the tragic death of his partner. Now this same partner is helping him solve new cases. Yes, you read that right. With beautiful pixel art and an engaging story set in a bristling environment, Lamplight City is a supernatural procedural adventure like you’ve never played before. I enjoyed this game a lot, because the choices you make have consequences. You might still be able to finish the game, but your choices definitely affect the outcome of your investigation, and might cause you to not catch the killer eventually. While this is not uncommon in RPG’s, in adventure games it’s not something I’ve encountered often. It gives the game a higher replayability than normal, which is rare in adventure games. This is one of the games that make very, very clear that we’re currently in a Renaissance of adventure games. And this one isn’t even my number 1 pick!

#3 – Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden

A story-driven, turn-based, tactical RPG where you can play a boar and a duck? Count me in! Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden is based on the tabletop RPG of the same name that is 34 years old now. I saw the trailer to this game, and I immediately wanted to play it. It doesn’t disappoint at all. It’s a great mix of X-Com and Fallout, two of my favorite games of all time. It looks fantastic, plays very smoothly, yet offers plenty of challenges, even if you play it on story mode. I love post-apocalyptic settings. I have played many of these, but a post-apocalyptic Sweden was a new setting for me. Guiding a team of misfit mutants through the Zone to find their heritage and destiny was enormously fun. I finished it as fast as I could, and I sincerely hope we get more of this setting. I love me a good boar and duck.

#2 – Return of the Obra Dinn

Every once in a while a game is released that you just need to have. As in, without knowing anything about it or its developer, just by seeing the name and some screenshots. A game that gives you a tingle in your abdomen, because you know you are about to witness something unique, something never seen before. Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn is that kind of game. In this game you are an insurance investigator for the East India Company, and it’s your job to figure out what happened to the crew and passengers of the merchant ship Obra Dinn. The ship was thought lost at sea, but all of a sudden turns up in the London harbour years later. Armed with a keen mind, a pair of sharp eyes, and a gadget that allows you to see a person’s final moments if you can locate his or her corpse, you set out on the cursed ship. Determined to find the fate of everyone who was on board.

Return of the Obra Dinn is truly a one-of-a-kind game. Its two-color pixel graphics are incredibly detailed. The whole game has a terrible sense of dread, and the story is more horrible than you can imagine. Walking around in someone’s final moments really made me feel like an investigator, as I was trying to determine who the person was, how he died, who killed him, and any other clues I could find. Almost every sense is involved, as you might for instance hear chatter or sounds from which you can deduce someone’s language and thus his nationality. Or you saw him in a previous moment in a bunk bed, and you can trace that back to a specific person.

Return of the Obra Dinn is a masterpiece, and it’s all done by Lucas Pope. He delivered a remarkable game that should be on any top 10 list of 2018. It’s another prime example of the adventure game Renaissance. But it’s not my number 1…

#1 – Unavowed

The X-Files meets Harry Dresden. That’s basically Wadjet Eye Games’  Unavowed. The Unavowed is a supernatural peacekeeping force, and you are their latest recruit, fresh off an exorcism. Whose exorcism, you might ask? Well, yours of course! Turns out you are a wanted serial killer! You just happened to have done all your foul deeds while under control of a demon. To find out why, and to get revenge, you join the Unavowed. Together with a fire mage and a djinn you set out to solve cases, hoping it’ll take you closer to the demon who corrupted your life. Along the way you pick up new recruits, so for new missions you get to choose who you take along as your two partners. Each character has their own specialty and skills, so the solution to the cases is different, depending on who you take with you. And because you have three different professions to choose from when starting the game, you have a very high replayability. It’s one of the many things that make Unavowed the best game of 2018 for me.

Unavowed is Dave Gilbert’s magnum opus. An extraordinary piece of writing, with absolutely stunning pixel artwork. It’s everything you come to expect of a Wadjet Eye game, and then much more. To top it all off, this game has one of the best twists I have ever seen in an adventure game, one that blew my socks off. And I’ve played quite a few adventure games. Unavowed is the shining example of the adventure game Renaissance, an absolute masterpiece that rightfully tops my top 10 list of 2018, and I hope many others. I hope we get as many sequels to this game as the Blackwell series got, because I want to run around in this world a lot more.

 

So there you have it, my top 10 list of the best games of 2018. With the emphasis on my. I know I’m gushing a lot about the adventure game renaissance we are currently in, but considering the genre was all but dead until a few years ago, I can’t believe how much quality work is coming out lately. And when Larry Laffer can successfully make a comeback, I still have hopes for a new Gabriel Knight or another return of Guybrush Threepwood.

But the most important thing for me is that the future of (point-and-click) adventure games is incredibly bright. I can’t wait to see what great stories will be told in 2019, who will surprise me with their twists and turns, and who comes up with unexplored settings and characters. I have the feeling that this form of storytelling is more alive than ever. The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades. Tomas out.