The Grumpy Old Gamers

Like Mr Kashmere, I’m more of a retro guy myself…I’d rather play through Mario 3 again, than to subject myself to a round of the CODBLOPs, while some 14 year old says derogatory things about my mother and then tea bags me.

Unlike Mr Kashmere however, I LOVE me some cheesy FMV…I remember being amazed that my video games had real people in it, and that freaking Mark Hamill was fighting Kilrathi on my tv!

But, since FMV has gone the way of the waggle controls (pour one out for the Wii), my number 5 pick is sadly cheese free.

Number 5

Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle for the switch caught me completely by surprise.  When I found out they were making a game with Mario and the gang, with some Rabbids and oh, it was going to be an X-Com style game…I honestly thought it was going to be a mess. But I found myself spending hours and hours playing this game with my kids and having a blast. Deceptively deep strategy and a hilarious story rounded out one of my favourite experiences of the year.

Number 4

Diablo 3 for the Nintendo Switch

So, I think it’s a pretty good indicator of the general tone of this page when my #4 pick is a game that originally came out like 6 years ago, but the switch port of this was in my opinion just that good. The game really lends itself to, in what my opinion is the strong point of the Switch, which is “I think I’m going to play something in portable mode for about 10 minutes in the bathroom, before my kids find out I’m gone” 

Seasonal mode is perfect for folks like me, who take their gaming in small chunks. And honestly the gameplay and graphics are still top notch even today, with frame rates holding up, even with dozens and dozens of no-goodniks on the screen at any time. A great time for sure, whether playing by oneself, or tackling the hordes of Darkness with friends, I can’t recommend it enough!

Number 3

Enter the Gungeon (Switch, but also for PS4, Xbone and PC)

Man, this game really reinforced the fact that I haven’t been good at video games in a very, very long time. But even though I died oh so many times, I never stopped having fun, and getting excited when I made it just a little further than I did before. Super tight controls ensure that you never feel like you die unfairly, and good game design make you want to keep coming back, as unlocking things will make the next run that much easier to get just a little closer to the end each time.

Another game with a great sense of humour too, every gun and enemy is a pun making it appeal to the Dad in me even more…overall just a great game. Don’t get me wrong, I’m NEVER going to beat this game, but that won’t stop me from coming back again and again for it to keep taking my lunch money 😆

Number 2

Octopath Traveller for Nintendo switch

So, remember when I said earlier that it was important for me that a game can be played in short intervals? Yeah, this game makes me a filthy, filthy liar, and I enjoyed all 60+ hours of it.

It’s really hard to explain how a game designed to look like a SNES RPG can look so good, but everything in the game absolutely sparkles. It’s a beautiful game, with  wonderfully stories for the 8 travellers, that actually make you care about them (well, except for one character, who talks like she’s LARPing at renaissance fair. Dirty hippie.)

I found myself losing huge chunks of time to this world, and never feeling like I was grinding all that much. Just an amazing game, and I can’t recommend it enough to any JRPG fans!

And Number 1…

Fallout ’76, the greatest game to hit consoles in…. ha ha ha……almost got that out. Seriously, that game….Ahem.

My number one personal type choice for 2018 is Forza Horizons 4 – Xbone and PC

I don’t even know where to start.  As a Gran Turismo fan boy going all the way back, I had been looking forward to the newest entry in the series, pre-ordered it months early, popped that bad boy in day one, and got…extremely disappointed. So much so, that I just put it back on the shelf and left it.

So, when someone told me about the venerable Forza series, I was hesitant to say the least.  But 5 min in, I’m racing motorbikes, in a dirt buggy.  Then, doing ebrake turns on a frozen lake, after jumping a hovercraft and racing a freaking jet!  I will honestly pop this game in, just to drive from one end of the island, to see what I can jump off of, or see what I can get to.  Or to take a snapshot from the top of a mountain because holy moly, this game is freaking gorgeous!!

The gameplay itself is super sandbox-y (totally a word now).  Want to do nothing but dirt racing?  Cool, fill your boots. Street racing? Yep, got you covered.  Want to just spend a couple of hours seeing how far you can launch yourself off sweet jumps?  Aces..

So, for being a game that made me yell out “No freaking way” more than once, and fulfilling my childhood dream of jumping over a moving train, Forza gets my pick for top game of the year!