Caffeine for Nerds' 2018 In Review (so far) | Games

Back on my shitty photoshop bullshit lmao.

2018 kind of felt like a dry spell for games, to me personally anyway, but every other month along came titles that have me obsessed, and they each warrant some attention. It's also quite telling how all the games on this list are PlayStation exclusives. The games in this review qualify as good entries to mark the end of a successful and spectacular chapter in gaming for the PS4.

Note: It's impossible to mention every single game from the whole year, and this review is in no way a reflection of the opinions of a collective whole. This list strictly has games that happen to appeal to my tastes; not all games, no matter how acclaimed they are, are everyone's cup of coffee, and that's okay. Also, the games are listed in chronological order according to their release date. That being said, let's begin.

SPOILER WARNING!

Shadow of the Colossus (PS4 Version)

You know a game is a masterpiece when it gets its second remake. Shadow of the Colossus is an easy fan favorite that transcends time, graphics, and console. No matter which version of the game you pick up, you're in for an extraordinary, magical, poignant, and timeless adventure. If you haven't played this game before, HELLO?? What are you waiting for? The good news is that this recent remake is able to pull in new fans and has the appeal of modern graphics while still retaining the unique style of the original game.

Apart from the improved graphics and controls, the story is exactly the same, and there are a few easter eggs for The Last Guardian and Ico fans. God bless Fumito Ueda games, I love them all. However, the camera is still a little wonky, but that's nothing new with these games, and some people have expressed disappointment with the updated character models, especially with Wander's. Though his older model consists of larger pixels and less refined polygons, fans perceived him to be "determined and mature." In contrast, the updated model has him with shorter hair and his face looks quite young and round, having a more softer appearance and conveying a more worried and sad expression. To me it's not a huge issue, but for veteran fans, the model's appearance can conflict with whatever headcanons they projected onto Wander since the first game. The game has always been quite ambiguous to begin with, so it's easy to dive into speculation about who Wander is as a character. It's so open-ended, so I can understand why the model might be unsatisfying for some, but it's also not that much of a big deal to me.

New vs old Wander character models

With those logistics out of the way, let's dive into the story. If you've never played this game, I recommend reading past this section until you've played the game yourself. It's worth playing it spoiler-free the first time, though it's been around for such a long time that it's practically impossible to avoid spoilers.

As a small synopsis, you play as a young man named Wander, and ride into a far away and forbidden land on his faithful black mare, Agro. Wander enters the forbidden temple in the center of the land with the corpse of a young girl called Mono. It's never specified what her relationship is with Wander, but he clearly cares profoundly for her because he lays her on an alter and is determined to bring her back to life. The land is host to an ominous presence known as Dormin, who supposedly has the power to control souls of the dead. Wander makes a deal with Dormin in order to bring back Mono, and he is then tasked with slaying the 16 colossi that reside in the area in order to destroy their totems. Essentially, you fight 16 bosses in nifty ways, considering the significant difference in scale between the colossi and Wander.

Beautiful and majestic creatures these colossi are, and sadly they have to be put down in order to progress.

All while Wander is defeating the colossi, a group of men with an old shaman as their leader is after Wander because he stole a magical sword from them, which has serious repercussions that come to a head at the end of the game after you defeat all the colossi. Turns out the ritual to bringing the dead back to life is extremely forbidden (no shit), and it comes with a heavy price. You discover that the humans have imprisoned Dormin to the temple by diving their essence into 16 parts (distributed into the colossi), and that Dormin was using Wander as a means to break free. They use his body as a vessel, and the shaman seals them away with the sword at the pool inside the temple. Afterwards, the shaman and the men leave, destroying the entrance to the land on their way out so that no one can leave or enter. Dormin, evil or not, kept their promise seeing as how Mono comes back to life shortly after. As the credit rolls, Mono and Agro find a horned baby, presumed to be Wander in a reincarnated form, at the pool he was supposedly sealed in, and we suspect they all live out the rest of their days in peace.

Riding Agro is so much fun, I could literally do it all day and not get bored.

Stylistically, the game is gorgeous to look at. One minute you could be riding past a dense forest, a large grassy field, a vast desert, or cliff-sides that look like you're in Ireland. It truly looks like something out of a fairytale or epic fantasy, not to mention the music is beautiful and masterfully utilized to tell the story. The colossi are exemplary figures in creature design, and the story, for however vague and simple it may seem on surface, is in actuality rich with moral dilemma and ambiguity. As with most stories, our instinct is to hope for the protagonist's success, so naturally we are led to support Wander, but the transpiring events of the game lead us to ask: are Wander's actions heroic or destructive in a potentially villainous way?

The lines between good and evil are superbly blurred in this game. Are the colossi simple creatures that wish to be left alone? Is Wander an invader and predator in their eyes? Are they merely defending themselves against his attacks? Regardless of what you think, the situation is nothing short of tragic. As innocent as Mono may be, the price to bring her back is heavy, costing Wander his humanity and the sacrifice of 16 possibly innocent and sentient creatures.

On the other hand, we're given reason to believe that Dormin isn't as bad as they are made to be by the shaman, and the shaman might not be as righteous as he appears to be. Mono was sacrificed under the prophecy that she had a cursed fate and would only bring doom. However, it is her death and what happens after that seems to bring about such despair and doom. Here we have a traditional case of how prophecies/knowing the future may lead to characters desperately trying to change fate, yet their preventative actions only lead toward the very outcome they were trying so hard to avoid in the first place. Meanwhile, Dormin never once lied to Wander, granted they never explained the whole truth. They also resurrected Mono, so at the very least they upheld their end of the bargain.

Though not everything ends in dismay. Mono lives, Agro survives, and Wander is reborn to atone for his sins. A classic tale of death and rebirth, which ends on a peaceful and hopeful note.

God of War

Before this title, I hardly cared for this series. I messed around with it here and there because it's always fun to play, cathartic even, especially when sometimes after a stressful day all you want to do is absolutely destroy enemies and take names. The story was just always part of background to me. A human-turned-god seeks revenge on the Olympian gods after they turned him into a killing machine, leading him to kill his own family in blind rage. His hatred is to never be forgotten as Kratos is painted white by the ashes of his dead wife and daughter. God of War has been a simple revenge story with our protagonist feeling no remorse and doing whatever it takes to sate his lust for vengeance. With this new God of War, though, Kratos starts to feel the consequences of his actions as he is older, wiser, and now has a son to look after.

The goal of the story is simple and endearing: Kratos and his son Atreus are traveling to the highest peak of all the realms to scatter the ashes of Faye, Atreus' mother. However, the journey is long and arduous as they face an increased amount of cursed undead, monsters, and Norse divinity, whom hunt our party down for an unknown reason. Meanwhile, the father-son dynamic is brutal and nothing short of tough love. Kratos is strict and stoic, which leads Atreus into mistakenly, yet understandably, thinking that his father doesn't care for him, and that he will never be good enough for his father. The real reason why Kratos is so distant with him is because he keeps his godhood a secret, and he has been trying to spare his son from that curse and responsibility. But given how they manage to piss off the Nordic gods, and after a near-death experience brought on by Atreus' godhood fighting against his own health, Kratos has no choice but to tell his son that he's part-god. From then on, Atreus must come to terms with what it means to be a god, as well as tampering his own arrogance.

It's especially refreshing to see Kratos as a father instead of a rampaging force of arrogance. I wouldn't go as far as saying he got soft, but he's no longer thinking about himself, and he is doing everything in his power and will to keep Atreus safe and prepare him for the turbulent baggage that comes with divinity. The parallels he shares with the goddess Freya add nuance to his character because in the end, they are both parents that are willing to do anything to keep their children safe. It's tragic to have Freya as a good friend/acquaintance throughout the majority of the game, only for her to turn into an adversary in the end simply because of her motherly desire to protect her son, even when he's an asshole and wants to kill her. Both Kratos and Freya are willing to die for their sons, which is ominous for Kratos' future considering the contents on the mural in Jotunheim.

The journey, with its ups and downs, brings father and son closer than ever, and they finally discover the secret that Faye had been hiding all along, making her the smartest and most powerful plot device ever used in a video game. Turns out she was a powerful giant known as "The Guardian", and purposefully made Kratos and Atreus scatter her ashes in her home of Jotunheim, land of the giants. Long before her death, she had seen the future and knew every step Kratos and Atreus would take, guiding them with her golden handprints and thrusting them out of their simple life in Midgard. Her preemptive actions would help bring about the beginning of Ragnorok, the end of everything, and if we know anything about Norse mythology, Loki is the god behind Ragnorok, and lo and behold, it turns out that Atreus would have been named "Loki" had his mother had her way with the name picking. Talk about a bombshell!

What's so incredible about this story is how meticulously it's crafted. It's only until the end that you realize why Atreus has such an affinity for wolves. It's only until the end that you realize why Freya was so terrified of the mistletoe arrows Atreus had. It's only until the end that you realize why Atreus was able to communicate with the World Serpent. And it's only until the end that you realize the very first scene of the game, where Kratos is cutting down a handpicked tree, would be the spark to an amazing adventure and certain chaos. I just really appreciate good writing when I see it; it demonstrates how much creators care for work. Another God of War could've easily been another cut and slash game and it would've still done well, but the time and thought that went into writing and crafting this narrative is astounding and a clear appreciation for fans, not mention it treats the players as an intelligent audience.

Faye's markings guiding your path since the very beginning.

I could go on singing praises about this game, but the point is, this game made me care about the characters and story. Since its announcement on E3 2016, it's delivery and presentation has been so sophisticated and the amount of passion and diligent work that went into it is evident. I wouldn't be surprised at all if it wins Game of the Year, just saying...

I'm incredibly happy experiencing this story over and over again, and the gameplay is challenging enough, having a Dark Souls-esque style that is different from button mashing, but it's a welcoming, engaging, and refreshing new addition to the series. The only complaint I have is that "the special death" animations stay same if you're fighting the same type of enemies, so it gets a little repetitive, but that's still not enough to ruin the whole experience. The most difficult, yet fulfilling bosses in the game actually come from side challenges where you battle cursed valkyries.

What's amazing is that God of War leaves you eagerly waiting for more. At the end of the game, you are turned free to keep playing the game where you can fulfill side-missions and basically do whatever the hell you want. Should players decide to go back home, you unlock a secret cutscene that foreshadows the conflict of the next game. By having pissed off Asgard and killing three gods, including two of Thor's sons, the god of thunder shows up at Kratos' doorstep with cold vengeance and raging thunder encompassing the whole area. The scene ends on a shot of Thor's waist to reveal his powerful hammer at his side, a la western shootout. Kratos and Atreus certainly have their hands full, yet in defending themselves, will they bring the end of the world?

With the snow just starting to fall, paving the way for the coldest and longest winter, Ragnorok is here, and I'm excited to see how the story unfolds in the next installment.

Detroit: Become Human

Decision-based games have always been stressful to me, especially since I constantly second-guess myself and panic under pressure, but I love them for the fact that you get to craft your own experience in a way (and I always try to make sure I get the happy endings lol). However, many of these games in the past have given audiences the illusion of choice, and the consequences of your choices are minuscule as you somehow arrive to the same outcome as every other player. But with Detroit: Become Human, choices do have a prolonged effect and can alter the story significantly.

The story takes place in 2038, Detroit, MI, where AI tech has become so advanced that androids are a booming commodity. Androids serve a plethora of functions and are fully implemented into society, from maids and nannies, retail and construction, to even serving as sex dolls and law officers. They have pretty much taken over all blue collar jobs imaginable and more. Despite how this tech makes life substantially easier for people, there are of course some serious cons. Unemployment is high as people are losing their jobs to androids, industrialization is harming the environment, and Cyberlife, the huge android manufacturing company, has an enormous influence on politics, to the point that android soldiers are being used and have worrisome ties to the president of the United States. This game also points out that even in 20 years, the US will still be in a cold war with Russia.

Life is far from perfect, especially for androids because seemingly out of no where they become sentient and disobey their programming. With this sudden consciousness, androids, now deviants, are aware of their extreme lack of civil rights and their oppressive conditions that they start rebelling against humans, and players must decide whether this revolution is violent or peaceful, or if it will be successful or not. To scope this situation, we play through 3 different perspectives of androids: Connor, Markus, and Kara.

Connor is a new prototype detective android, being the most advanced model, and his mission is to investigate the deviants' behavior and stop them. Markus is an older model of the same "RK" series as Connor, and he was given as a gift to an elderly artist who treats Markus as his own son. Last but not least is Kara, who is a standard housekeeper android serving a degenerate father who abuses his daughter. As the title suggests, you decide how "human" these androids become. With Connor, you decide whether you become a deviant or remain a cold and faithful machine tied to its master (Amanda/Cyberlife) and put an end to deviants. For Markus, you turn into a deviant no matter what, so you have to decide if he's going to be an extremist or a pacifist in order to gain freedom for androids. You have the option of not becoming a deviant as Kara, however, that gets Alice killed, and Kara's route can end then and there. Obviously most players choose to be deviant, so Kara's story is one of survival, but you have to decide whether you're interested in your own self-preservation or if you'll do what it takes to protect Alice and be like a mother to her.

There are more decisions than the general ones I described above, but for the sake of moving along, the possibilities are almost infinite, and the endings can be open to interpretation. Even the good endings can still be tense as the future is left uncertain, and the bad endings imply that Cyberlife will continue to expand their control over everything until they achieve global domination. For the most part, the story is good regardless of what paths you end up taking, however, it's the characters and their development that are most fulfilling.

The social issues presented felt a little shallow. There are blatant parallels to the Civil Rights Era and even to the Holocaust, but sometimes the way they are presented seems very surface level. They rely heavily on our own knowledge of these historical events and expect us to feel the same effect by simply acknowledging the source. Because of that, some of the plot was pretty predictable, especially in Markus' route. That's not even mentioning how comparing the fictional struggles of androids to real history may be offensive to the groups involved. Art is always political and can pull certain imagery, but it's important to avoid comparing imagery in a fictional world and real history on a 1:1 ratio, and that's one of the faults of this game.

An obvious callback to bus segregation.

Additionally, the wording for some of the options when you're making a decision are incredibly vague and confusing to the point where an option could be interpreted in several different ways. As a result, players might pick a choice expecting a specific outcome, only for the complete opposite of what they wanted happens instead. Nonetheless, the game is still cool and visually captivating, and it is sure to have you question our current technological developments and keep you invested in the characters.

The Android Sent by Cyberlife

That said, Connor is my absolute favorite, and it's probably because his decision to "become human" or not comes much later in his story than it does with Kara and Markus. Depending on your choices, Connor can be the hero or antagonist of this whole narrative. Connor is ruthless, cold, and quite inhuman when you have him remain as a machine, which makes him look badass in a stoic way if you're into that, however, by remaining a machine you accept that Connor means nothing as a person and is not exempt from being replaced and discarded as we find out in the bad ending where you meet his replacement, an upgraded Connor model.

What's interesting about Connor is that he can die nearly at any given point in the story, and it can happen repeatedly in one play through. In doing so, you cement his callousness for death, further instilling the idea that he's just as expendable as Apple headphones (the true villain in our society). If you keep him alive without dying and begin unfollowing his protocol, Connor's transformation into a deviant is gradual, made up of an accumulation of various events rather than one defining moment in his path. With his growing relationship with Lieutenant Anderson and multiple encounters with deviants, he develops compassion for others and sympathy for androids desiring to be free. One possibility in his route is Connor feeling the death of a deviant he links up with, and it traumatizes him. That scene on the roof is when he is at his most vulnerable, and he becomes scared of dying.

Even without that scene, Connor can spare the lives of several androids. With the first few, he always jumps to the excuse that he was sparing them for the sake of his mission or for saving Hank, but when Kamski puts a gun in his hand and asks him to shoot his android Chloe, Connor sees the androids as people and sees death as a permanent end to an individual. By the time he confronts Markus, he's already at his breaking point, and Markus really just gives Connor the small push towards the truth: he's been a deviant for a while now, even if he didn't completely shatter his program by that point yet. I could ramble on, especially about his friendship with Hank, but at this rate this will just turn into a character analysis and we have other games to get to. But I adore Connor, I wish there could be a whole game just devoted to him.

Spider-Man

Where to even begin with this one? I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to fall in love with a superhero game. The Arkham Knight games were great to play, but to be honest, I couldn't even tell you what the series was about other than Batman, prison/asylum break, and the Joker being in love with Batman, even in death (though I did have a blast playing as Catwoman, where's her game?). (Maybe I need to revisit them, since one of them did win Game of the Year.) Generally, I do enjoy Spider-Man, he's certainly one of my favorite Marvel heroes, but I was a bit skeptical because the Spider seems to be everywhere these days (in several different movies, referenced in the Venom film I'm sure, and in the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse), and frankly it's a little overwhelming to me. I wasn't sure how big of an impact a Spider-Man video game would have when we're being fed so many other things featuring the character; however, none of that mattered when I played this game.

This Spider-Man isn't another origin story, and Peter Parker has long since left his high school days behind him. He's a college grad struggling to pay rent while dealing with the aftermath of taking out the big-shot gangster, Fisk, who supposedly kept every other criminal in line. As a result, a criminal organization known as the Demons start to terrorize Manhattan, and when Peter isn't fighting crime, he's working with Doctor Octavius as a scientist to help develop AI prosthetics. However, as the story progresses, we find out the Demons are specifically trying to target Norman Osborn, the mayor, and Mr. Negative is their leader. To help defeat them, Peter has help from a cop, Yuri, as an inside woman on police affairs, and Mary Jane who, as an investigative journalist, tracks down the Demons and Oscorp and their shady whereabouts.

What's unique about this story is that Peter knows all the main villains on a personal level. Martin Li runs a homeless shelter with Aunt May's help, Norman (who we don't see as a "villain" per se in this game, but is certainly into some shady business and is foreshadowed to be a menace in the sequel) is the dad of Peter's best friend, and Otto and Peter are quite fond of each other, so his transformation into Dr. Octopus is heart-wrenching, even when we could all see it coming from a mile away. Narratives where the antagonist actually knows the protagonist personally tend to resonate with me more because they usually place the antagonist in a position where we can sympathize with them, and I'm a sucker for complex villains instead of your standard cookie cutter villain who's too ambitious for their own good.

Another special characteristic of this game is how it picks up the best pieces of the Spider-verse and assembles them altogether. Like the comic-book accuracy of Homecoming? Peter has web shooters; he can't summon webs magically from his veins lol, and he's as dorky as ever. Like the gritty finale fights of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man? Done. Like the sincerity Peter has with his romantic interest in the Amazing Spider-Man? Peter's rekindling romance with MJ is EVERYTHING to me in the game.

After a full playthrough, I end up spending more hours with PS4 Peter than all the other film Peters, so I may be biased in saying that this adaptation of Peter Parker is my favorite. He is an absolute delight to the point where it's criminal just how kind and wholesome he is. With all the characters he interacts with, he simply radiates with positive energy that it's contagious and inspiring, which is incredibly relieving considering that in our present day, tensions are high and it's tough to be optimistic and know basic kindness from others. I started crying when Peter decides to stop by F.E.A.S.T and help Aunt May despite her saying that he doesn't have to, but he wants to help anyway, and something about the sincerity in his voice and warm smile just hit home with me. Take away his powers, and Peter is still an amazing person. Not to mention that he always sees the good others, however, he learns that he can't save everyone, and that sometimes a person needs to save themselves, which leads me to Otto.

Dr. Octavius is the best written Spider-Man villain in my opinion. I love Venom too, but I admit it's for reasons involving vanity and teratophilia (shout out to my monster-fuckers). The other villains have their own motivations, but none of them, save for the Osborns, have a special connection to Peter. Otto feels like a person and not just the bad guy of the story. For a good amount of time playing the game, I thought Otto was just a cameo with the promise of bad things to come in the future, way beyond the end of the game. His transformation into a mad scientist is slow and gradual, and we all know it's inevitable dramatic irony since the very beginning of the game. The game teases the Octopus to the hot heavens, but it doesn't mitigate the pain when Otto finally loses it. He genuinely wants to help people with his work and his intentions are good, but his misfortunate setbacks are often produced by Norman. Norman is an ass, and Otto's fury is warranted to some degree; however, the more Norman succeeds at Otto's expense, the more Otto's hatred for him grows and becomes obsessive. It also doesn't help that Otto is sick and his body is failing, smothering Otto with self-hatred and ultimately pushing him to "improve" his physical and mental form. Committed to making Norman suffer, Otto figuratively and literally equips himself with arms to raise himself up, but that of course only elevates his descent into madness.

As for Peter's side of things, it's torture completing the puzzles in the lab because we know he's unknowingly helping Otto build his menacing arms. It's especially painful to see Peter go from looking up to Otto as a hero, to reluctantly fighting him in the end. And it's not like Otto was manipulating Peter either; he genuinely cares for him and admires his genius; Peter is like the son he never had. I could go on, but playing through the game does their relationship more justice than me describing it. SO MUCH ANGST! (TT^TT)

Gameplay-wise, it's so much fun. It's a little button-mashing-y while in combat, however, your luck can only last for so long because if you don't familiarize yourself with the dodge button, you'll be hit enough times before you can get enough combos to heal up, then it's game over. Other than that, web swinging is perhaps the most amazing way to travel across a video game map, EVER. It's magical. Each time you swing you feel like Tobey Maguire Spider-Man discovering his powers for the very first time. It's exhilarating and graceful thanks to Peter's acrobatics, and the chorus and orchestra immerses you fully to the point that it's very easy to swing past missions and just keep swinging from building to building all day. Fortunately, the beautiful thing about this game is that it gives you plenty to do all over the city that don't involve the main missions. You can collect backpacks (my personal fav) and each item comes with a little neat story, photograph landmarks, take down crime bases, solve Black Cat's mystery, solve Harry's lab stations, and more! In other open world games, it can get tiresome and tedious doing all the side missions and collectables, but with Spider-Man it's the first time where doing all of that doesn't feel like a chore. Not to mention you're motivated to complete side missions in order to gather up resources to craft and get new suits.

The world itself is fun to explore, especially since I was just recently in New York, so playing this felt like I was taking another fun vacation there! Just don't try getting on the boats unless you want to see the Minecraft-looking models lmao. Other than that, I see this game as another good contender for GOTY.

TERRIFYING

Throughout the game, there are short segments where you play as Miles Morales and MJ. These are all mostly stealth missions, but it's nice to take a small break from Peter and experience the chaos unfolding in New York in someone else's feet, and I do so love Miles and MJ. I could go on a whole tangent about Miles, but I'm just glad he doesn't get edgy-angsty after his father's death and doesn't blame Spider-Man for it. It's also very sweet how supportive and patient Peter is with Miles, so their ending scene together is so delightful. My sweet babies, I can't deal with these emotions.

Lastly, I have to mention MJ and her relationship with Peter because this is by far the best romantic subplot out of all the other Spider-Man adaptations I've seen. It's refreshing in Spider-Man media because with previous versions, it's all about how Peter and his romantic interest fall in love with each other for the first time, whereas in this game, Peter and MJ have already dated and are broken up. It puts them both in an awkward position because they both still clearly like each other romantically, but they're not sure if they want to try being friends given their breakup. Regardless, they're amicable and form a partnership to take down Martin Li and uncover the truth about Devil's Breath. As a reporter, MJ doesn't just want to run google searches to get info, she wants to be on the field and sneak into off-access and dangerous areas to get the truth and help people, but Peter fears for her safety and wants her to stop putting herself at risk. This doesn't sit well with MJ because she doesn't want to be made a helpless damsel in need of saving, thus the two butt heads. I immensely enjoy MJ and her independence, her missions are incredibly fun to play as well, but I appreciate the fact that she wasn't made to be a backdrop/accessory and wasn't in the story solely to be in love with Peter.

In the end, both come to realize that they need each other in order to bust the villains and save New York, and once they settle their differences and learn to work seamlessly together, they rediscover what it's like to be in love. Their scenes together are just ADORABLE!

Honorable Mention: Visage

My only non-PS-exclusive game lol. I love horror games in a masochistic manner, so naturally I had to play this one after reading a plethora of Steam reviews that claimed this game was terrifying, and I can confirm that it is. What's even more incredible about this game is that it's not done yet; there are at least two more chapters to the story, so I'm happily looking forward to playing them once they are released. Visage is heavily inspired by Silent Hill, though what horror game isn't after the cataclysmic impact that Silent Hills made? It also utilizes a similar mechanic to Amnesia: The Dark Descent in where you have to constantly be near light sources to maintain your sanity, otherwise you expose yourself to danger. Additionally, there are several moments in the game where you have to utilize a camera flash to guide your way through the haunted house, which has been seen before in other horror games. While the environment and mechanics might seem a little familiar, this game keeps you in constant fear of the dark, maintaining tension throughout the entirety of the game, which, surprisingly enough, is very difficult for horror games to achieve. It's also refreshing to see that you're not just haunted by a ghost woman/girl, but also by a babadook-looking monster. My one critique for it has to be the lousy inventory system, which is annoying to go through without frequently and accidentally selecting the wrong item or dropping important tools.

Nevertheless, this quick experience is worth a look if you're interested in the genre.
______________________________________________________________

On that note, I'll close off this review by again, restating that each of these games deserve their own post for me to rave about, analyze, and critique. Having them together like this further proves just how dominant Sony games are on my radar, so I better start saving money for when they think it's time to move onto the PS5. I'm always a sucker for good stories and well-written characters regardless of gameplay or how it looks visually. I do wish, however, that there were more horror games, and I'm sad 2018 has for the most part been a draught for that genre. Also, as I'm writing this, it was just announced that TellTale is shutting down, so that puts me out too. There could be a few more games before the end of the year that capture my interest, but I'm still confident that nothing else this year could top the titles above.

Liked my list? What are your favorite games so far this year? Write in the comments below and tell me what your thoughts are!