{"id":14800212,"date":"2019-01-02T04:15:56","date_gmt":"2019-01-02T04:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/?p=14800212"},"modified":"2019-01-02T04:34:55","modified_gmt":"2019-01-02T04:34:55","slug":"2018-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/?p=14800212","title":{"rendered":"2018 In Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

Though it’s not a hard and fast rule, I almost never play games the moment that they come out. \u00a0I’m too busy, or I’m in the middle of something else, or (more often than I’d like to admit) I don’t even realize that a game I’m interested in has shipped. \u00a0I miss out on a little of the zeitgeist that surrounds the launch of important games, but generally I feel better equipped to analyze (and enjoy!) a title with a little distance.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the games I played in 2018. \u00a0Not all of them shipped in 2018, but I played them last year so they are 2018 titles to me. \u00a0I’ve omitted VR games from this list as I work closely with many of the developers who produced my favorite VR titles this year, and so calling them out seems a little disingenuous.<\/p>\n

Interesting Reads<\/h2>\n

Zero Time Delimma<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is the third game in the Zero Escape series. \u00a0Like its predecessors (999\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Virtue’s Last Reward<\/em>), it is a puzzle-laden visual novel that operates on a (genius) trick. \u00a0This series is the most self-aware video game series I have ever played. \u00a0Not only is it built around the way games are actually played, it takes advantage of those patterns in fascinating ways.<\/p>\n

Danganronpa 2<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Danganronpa V3<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>Like the Zero Escape series,\u00a0Danganronpa<\/em> grew out of the visual novel genre, and alternates between wacky characters and deadly serious murder mysteries. \u00a0These games try different approaches to world exploration, but the real magic (and massive frustration) is all in the class trials that reveal the killer behind every murder. \u00a0This series has struggled with finding ways to mix mechanical challenges with the long expository sequences common to visual novels, and though it’s not perfect, the story itself carries it through the rough patches.<\/p>\n

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OK, you’ve got my attention.<\/p><\/div>\n

MUVLUV<\/em> Extra<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0The jury is still out on this one. \u00a0After hearing that\u00a0Hajime Isayama got the idea for\u00a0Attack on Titan<\/em> from a video game, I was determined to figure out what it was. \u00a0I was surprised to find out that he was referring to a visual novel series called\u00a0MUVLUV<\/em>, specifically\u00a0MUVLUV Alternative<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0the third game in a series that started off as an adult visual novel. \u00a0These days the naughty bits have been removed and the series ships for consoles and Steam. \u00a0The Steam reviews for\u00a0MUVLUV Alternative<\/em> are fascinating, with many players with hours and hours of game time on record claiming that the title fundamentally changed their life. \u00a0I am not a fan of visual novels (with the massive exception of the two series I just wrote about above, and Kamaitachi No Yoru)<\/em>, but after reading all that my interest was piqued. \u00a0Apparently the third game can only be understood after the first two have been completed, so I dove in with the first MUVLUV<\/em> this winter.<\/p>\n

So far the results are pretty disappointing. \u00a0MUVLUV Extra<\/em>\u00a0is exactly what you would expect from the visual novel genre: you play as a high school boy who must select one of his busty classmates (all of which are secretly in love with him) as his mate. \u00a0The writing is funny and the characters are not entirely one dimensional, but yep, it’s a visual novel dating game with no hint of turning into something more. \u00a0I’ll report back after I’ve finished the other two games in the series. \u00a0Fingers crossed this time investment pays off.<\/p>\n

Doki Doki Literature Club<\/em><\/a> is a parody of what\u00a0MUVLUV Extra<\/em> is exactly, with some fun twists and a couple of super great puzzles. \u00a0It’s free and you should play it. \u00a0It takes a little too long to become interesting, but stick with it.<\/p>\n

Horror Games<\/h2>\n

World of Horror<\/a>. \u00a0<\/em>A Japan-themed game that looks like an old B&W Mac game? \u00a0This is so, so my jam.<\/p>\n

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White Day<\/em> is a remake (by the original director) of a 2001 Korean horror game by the same name. \u00a0These days it’s cleaned up nice and you can play it on a PC or PS4. \u00a0It’s exactly the kind of game I want to play (and pretty similar to the types of games I want to make), but suffers from a punishing stealth system that blocks all progression for hours at a time. \u00a0Meh.<\/p>\n

Yomawari 2<\/em>. \u00a0It’s exactly like\u00a0Yomawari<\/em>, which I adored. \u00a0These games do not care about you. \u00a0You will die. \u00a0Don’t let the cute RPG art style fool you. \u00a0These games are out for blood.<\/p>\n

Detention<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>A Taiwanese side scroller horror game that is a) super scary and b) super interesting. \u00a0Exactly the combination I am looking for in an horror game. \u00a0Play this.<\/p>\n

The Evil Within.\u00a0<\/em>My entire review of\u00a0The Evil Within<\/em> is summed up by this screenshot of a bird with a collectable item on its back standing in the middle of the air where the item cannot be collected.<\/p>\n

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The Evil Within 2.\u00a0<\/em>Much better than its predecessor. \u00a0Some really nice scenes. \u00a0Story doesn’t matter. \u00a0Too long.<\/p>\n

Stories Untold<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>A series of interactive puzzles that, over time, become a single narrative. \u00a0The presentation quality is top notch (if a little too\u00a0Stranger Things<\/em>) and the puzzles themselves are pretty fun (I liked the text adventure the best).<\/p>\n

Other Good Stuff<\/h2>\n

Thimbleweed Park.<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>A great adventure game by the guy who invented adventure games. \u00a0So many lovely modernizations and little innovations to fans of the genre.<\/p>\n

Virginia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>Lots of game designers secretly wish they were film directors, but \u00a0this is probably the first time I’ve played a game that actually is (pretty much) a film. \u00a0Super interesting approach. \u00a0I wonder if this style is repeatable.<\/p>\n

Zelda: Breath of the Wild.\u00a0<\/em>Amazing achievement in the history of video games. \u00a0The first Zelda game I have ever enjoyed.<\/p>\n

Hidden My Game By Mom 3<\/em>.<\/a> \u00a0This is what your phone was made for.<\/p>\n

2018 Game of the Year<\/h2>\n
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These last three fucking doughnuts are going to kill me.<\/p><\/div>\n

The MISSING:\u00a0J.J. Macfield and the Island of Memories<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0The first release from SWERY’s new studio is a queer platformer in which the protagonist has to intentionally hurt herself by jumping into spinning blades and setting herself on fire in order to progress. \u00a0Like all SWERY games, the mechanical challenges (which are good and hard) yield new story details, which in turn make the level mechanics more interesting. \u00a0One of the best bits is the story reveal mechanism itself: you learn about the protagonist and her friends by reading text messages on her phone, complete with stamps, memes, and emoji. \u00a0Add in some\u00a0Twin Peaks<\/em> dream talking and puzzles that involve rolling around as a decapitated head and you’ve got a title that is fun, weird, and thought provoking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Though it’s not a hard and fast rule, I almost never play games the moment that they come out. \u00a0I’m too busy, or I’m in the middle of something else, or (more often than I’d like to admit) I don’t even realize that a game I’m interested in has shipped. \u00a0I miss out on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14800212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14800212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14800212"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14800212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14800226,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14800212\/revisions\/14800226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14800212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14800212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/horror.dreamdawn.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14800212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}