As 2018 draws to a close, we decided to turn to our incredibly smart panel of PC games industry experts to see what the biggest trends and stories of the year were.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be picking the brains of our PC Pulse boffins to see what the most important stories, trends and games of 2018 were, as well as looking into the crystal ball for a glimpse at what 2019 holds
I'm gonna say Wandersong -- I'm not sure if it was my favourite, but it deserves to be called out at least. You're a singing bard, who saves the world by singing to everyone. It's just so wholesome and lovely, and genuinely had me tearing up at times. Lovely stuff.
That’s a tricky question given the year we’ve had for games, but I’d have to say this was Dead Cells from French studio Motion Twin. For me, this was a game that perfectly scratched that Bloodborne-itch while perfectly folding in and improving on various aspects of the roguelike and Metroidvania genres. It’s a game that feels fast, fair and polished with tons of replay value. Motion Twin also did an excellent job with its early access campaign, offering plenty of updates and transparency with users.
Into The Breach - loved the concept and flawless implementation of that concept. Would also like to send a couple of shout-outs; Not Tonight, kudos for wearing your politics on your sleeves and making a great game of it, Megaquarium gives a fresh spin on the sim genre and the cute The Colonists - made here in Bristol Games Hub. I also want to note our Achtung! Cthulhu Tactics as I'm really proud of what the team did and want to say thanks to them.
Frostpunk by 11 Bit hands down. What a great way to bring in emotion and heart into a city builder. It's also gorgeous and has one of the most impressive marketing campaigns I've seen in the past few years. But what really solidifies it for me is that the devs are sticking by their product and making continuous improvements to it based on feedback they've received.
Florence. I liked a lot of games in 2018, but Florence had the bonus of being extremely powerful and easily digestible. It made me cry on public transit, which is not an easy thing to do. Florence was innovative in both its storytelling process and its story content, and it's fun! I might get some flack for picking a mobile game, but I don't really care. It's great and everyone should try it.
Beyond my perennial obsessions with League of Legends and RuneScape, my favourite PC game of 2018 was Assassins Creed: Odyssey. The scope of the world they created was incredible and even though the gameplay differences from Origins were fairly modest, it was enough to make Odyssey feel like a step forward.
“PUBG is the game I’ve played most throughout 2018. Having said that, now Call of Duty has brought Battle Royale mode to Black Ops 4, I’ve been playing a lot of that since its launch”.
Dead Cells and Slay The Spire. Moody, retro Roguelikes that let me re-experience the terror of the coin-op, where a single mistake wipes out hours of concentrated work. I seem to need that knife’s edge intensity.
I had to go back into my games library to give this question the attention it deserves. My answer is Gorogoa. This is not 2018 game, but that's when I played it. That game is one of my favourites. The puzzle design is so clever, so clean, so well thought out, I keep getting back it, trying to understand how it was accomplished. A true gem as far as I am concerned.
