2018 Summary - A big year indeed
So when 2018 started I set a few goals for myself, namely, to get my completion rate up to 72% from 67% and to finish another 80 games, to bring my total to 320. As 2018 closed I had managed to finish 124 games as well as bring my completion up to 73%, so all told a very successful year indeed.
Oddly enough however I didn't gain that many more achievements than in previous years, still averaging about 10 a year, but the difference this year was that I revisited a lot of abandoned games, I'd tried for a while and forgotten about, and I also spent a bit more time mopping up some of the 'bigger' games I had. I had a list I created here on BLAEO of games I wanted to beat, and by the end of the year I'd at least started 70% of them and beaten half, so minor success. This year I'll do better
I won exactly 0 games on Steamgifts in 2018, but I did play a bit more of the longer games I had won, and I've now beaten all of the games I won, with the exception of the 'multiplayer, but now abandoned "Of Kings and men". It was early access, so I tried it straight away, with the aim of revisiting it once it was fleshed out, but then it got abandoned. Which is a pity! Anyway, all my others are at least green coloured here, and I'll try and get 100% on "shadow of mordor" and "call of duty black ops II" in this year, just for completion sake.
The full list of games I 100% beat in 2018 is here , you'll see it's a big mix, some filthy casual short games, some controller breakers, and a few long games. It will be difficult to pick just 10 highlights, but here we go...
This was definitely a highlight for me. It was a well put together puzzle platformer on it’s own, but then it also had the insane challenge room low-death challenge. It took me running the game for 24 hours on 2 computers to beat it, but I finally did, and on a few of the stats website I was the first, and so far only, one to beat the game fully. It had a nice mix of hidden secrets, storyline and challenge achievements that I think make a game interesting to beat. I think it deserved a lot more credit than it got.
So this one might not be the most favoured of all the batman games, but it is the final and I beat it fully. As with other arkham games, the biggest challenge came from the challenge maps, and after bouncing off them the first time I played, I came back and suddenly they were a lot easier. I think in the meanwhile I’d been playing so much more with my controller, and playing games like shadow of mordor, so the combat suddenly felt a lot easier. Whatever the reason, I was really glad I came back to this and finished it up, as it’s a great one for the collection.
So I have always loved the hitman series, after playing the first game almost straight after it came out back in the day. I was in my early teens, and with that game I really started to see what games could be. Here we had an action game where not every one was trying to kill you straight away, and your actions had consequences. It was a revelation. So over the years I’ve played all of them and couldn’t wait to play this one after the reviews praised it. I just loved the methodical approach to everything. Each level is a little series of puzzles, and there’s plenty of ‘right’ ways to do each assassination, so in the end if feels like you made the choice, and 47 is an extension of your personality. My favourites are the ones where I’d sneak in, trigger an accident and leave without even changing my suit. Bald bad-ass indeed. Can’t wait to play hitman 2. Was very tempted in this sale, but chose AC origins instead, as it seemed more likely that hitman 2 would be in a monthly bundle.
The only game that actually released in 2018, that I bought in 2018 and beat in 2018, and with good reason. I was crazy about the redwall books as a kid, and the minute I saw this it raised my interested. It apparently had some serious bugs when it released, but by the time I bought it June these were all ironed out and it plays great. It also looks gorgeous, because the main guy behind is primarily an animator, so the way the world looks and the characters move is charming. It claims to be an RPG, but it’s really more of a stealth adventure game. You explore the prison and do quests to advance the story. There’s also so much back story that’s revealed, and I love the sense of starting the game right in the middle of something. I really hope a sequel is in the works.
I grew up in the age of the PS 1 and N64 and even into the PS2 and gamecube eras, it felt like every second game was a generic action platformer, emulating the style of much better Nintendo franchises, but not quite being as good. Yooka-laylee, was made with the stated goal of being a throw back to the likes of banjo-kazooie, and I think it does a good job for the most part. Some of the aspects were annoying, but then I remembered that the old games were even more annoying, so ultimately this was spot on. I loved the expanding skill set and open world level design and whilst the dialogue was a bit cheesy, it was still a fun story for the kids sitting next to me. So definitely worthy of a place in my top 10 list of 2018.
Along with hitman, another game from my teenage days that I loved to bits was the commandos series. It was branded as an action game, but even then I saw it as more of an intricate puzzle, where you would clear the map piece by piece to get to the objective. It’s a genre that died a few years ago and I’m ecstatic that Shadow tactics has revived it. It’s a good modern take on the genre, and even though I felt like the skills needed more variety or progression, the maps did a good job of scaling up the challenge. And the addition of extra challenges to each map was great because it forced me to play outside of my usual style, and do it faster or without murdering everyone. It was difficult at times, but a nice way to enhance the game. I’m excited to play the new desperados game they are making and also hoping that Kalypso is going to actually revive Commandos as well.
It was a toss up between this or Sniper elite V2, but the reality is I am super happy to have beaten both of them this year. I have always loved the sniper games, but multiplayer achievements are where many of my completion attempts die when it comes to games. Because I don’t always start playing early enough and because my gaming times are convenient, and because I live 200+ ping away from everyone else. So I was really grateful to find someone who could help me out with the co-op and multiplayer achievements. I’ve played a lot of shooters over the years, but I also love stealth gameplay, so the sniper elite series combines both, and finishing it on the hardest mode is very satisfying, as you take in the wind and bullet drop and carefully hold your breath for that perfect shot. Good times. I’ve still got Sniper Elite 4 to finish at least. Maybe by then 5 will be out.
Generally speaking, me and horror games don’t get on well. And looking at subnautica I knew it had elements of ‘scariness’ to it, but I also was intrigued by the exploration and overarching concept of the game. So it was wishlisted and I won it on SG. This year it finally came out of early access and I jumped back in. I was really surprised by how I managed to hold it together. Yeah there were some scary things down there, but the compulsion to explore was stronger, and after a while I realised, they were just behaving like normal creatures would, and if I left them alone they would mostly leave me alone. The storyline and progression of new unlocks was brilliant and this game really does deserve the accolades it received. And I’m still sad I lost my first cuddlefish.
Why did I abandon this game all those years ago? I got it in a humble bundle, played the first few levels, even bought the DLC and then forgot about it until they gave all of us a free upgrade to the remastered version. Then I felt like I should finished the original before returning. And it’s actually a brilliant stealth platformer, and exactly the sort of game I enjoy, so why I didn’t take to it the first time round I’ll never know. Anyway, I’ll be playing the remastered version sometime this year I’m sure, just wanted to give myself a chance to enjoy it properly.
I play a lot of lego games, allegedly for the kids sakes, but I do secretly quite enjoy them myself. This particular one was the best I played in 2018, with a few new ideas, but also a funny original plot that pokes fun at some of the traits of heroes and villains and manages to send up a few of the MCU films better than the ‘lego avengers’ game did previously. Definitely one of the better lego games.
As far as lowlights go, well there were plenty of those. Thankfully most of them were over quickly, but the biggest was probably 'Agents of mayhem'. It had so much promise and potential on reveal. Funny characters, skill unlocks, saints row universe. And instead the actual gameplay involves killing the same boring bad guys across an endless number of the same boring bases. Once I committed to finishing, I ground through it, but I was literally falling asleep at points while I played.
Goals for this year
I've put together a little list of games I want to at least beat this year, a few I've already started, some I've not even installed yet, but I think it's a good mix. I want to have at least half of them finished completely by the end of the year, and to have at least tried out all of them. List is here
My other goals are less intense than last year, the reality is I have a new baby on the way and that always throws a disruption to leisure time, so I want to bring my total of completed games up to 450, (so adding 90 games roughly), and my AGC up to 77%. I may adjust up if I feel a burst of energy later, but I think that's a good starting point
Here's to all you fellow hunters, may we all beat more than we add in this year!
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Many years ago I pirated (and I think that was last game in my life I pirated, that or Amnesia) Lego Harry Potter years 1-4 and I gotta admit I was surprised how fun it was. I wanted to play more of them since them, but so far I managed to hoard a lot of them but play none lol.
And I hope you enjoy Hollow Knight, I see it’s on your playlist for 2019. It’s one of the most beatiful, polished and well balanced games I played in years. And have fun with Nightmare King :D
You should definitely try one of the newer ones, I think the voice acting added a lot to the fun. A few of them take the speech directly from movies, but then they add some signature lego humour in how they interpret the lines.
And yes, I’m looking forward to playing hollow knight, I know it’s got some real tricky parts, but hopefully I can do it.
Congrats on the baby to you and your other half! That’s gonna be a busy year, best wishes for 2019. I hope you still find time for some gaming in between 2 baby bottles or diaper change ;)
And that’s a really nice list of highlights you have there. I’m eager to try the ones I have in my backlog.
Haha thanks. It’s not my first rodeo, so I’ve learnt the art of holding a baby and playing at the same time. I do sense more point and click or single handed puzzle games in my future though.
Hehe if it’s not the first one it should be less hard on you. And lucky you, there is a lot of great puzzles and P&C around. (If you got the last humble monthly, i recommend the darkside detective strongly)
Ahh no unfortunately I skipped last month because I had the early unlocks I wanted, and it actually worked out well, because I would have only wanted Darkside detective and maybe QUBE 2. I’m sure it will be cheap enough to get another time.
That’s a perfect battle cry - may we all beat more than we add indeed!
I can’t imagine falling asleep while playing a game - agents of mayhem was that bad? Holy hell.
Congratulations upon congratulations on the new baby! I hope everything goes well, safely, and easy for you and your family.
Thanks for the congratulations. She is literally due any moment, so we’re holding our breath a little here.
And yes, I never fall asleep during games, but the action of this was so repetitive, my mind kept just going, like, ‘oh you’re not actually doing anything right now, are you? Here let’s catch up on some sleep so you’re refreshed for the important stuff’
Oh my god!! That’s so exciting! Your family is in my thoughts.