At the beginning of 2018, I made a conscious effort to work through my backlog and play those games I’d always wanted to, but never did for this reason or that. Happily, I actually worked through a not insignificant portion before the summer. Then, the home buying process, and Octopath Traveler, took up any free time I had. When the dust settled, I was bombarded by new releases that occupied my time for the last half of the year.

Like always, this list is in alphabetical order.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – While I’m not the biggest fan of the series, this entry has always piqued my interest, specifically the single player campaign. Like the other first-person shooters on my list, this was a blast to play and had an interesting campaign.

Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest – Another one of the games that’s been on my backlog for years. I’m so happy to have played it. It’s such a weird game, and not always pleasant.

Fire Emblem – I played this alongside the latter portions of my friend and I’s sojourn through Radiant Dawn, and no, I didn’t get burned out on the formula. That should say everything about the enjoyability of these games, despite their difficulty.

Octopath Traveler – This game engrossed me like few others have. It’s one of the few RPGs I can say that I did absolutely everything. I didn’t intend to when I began, or even when I was halfway through, but at some point I was enjoying it so much, I just went for it.

Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! – It wasn’t until the day this game came that I really started to get excited to play it. I can still remember being at work that Friday and realizing “I get to play a ‘new’ Pokémon game all weekend!” A straightforward remake of Yellow, it was a nice blend of features from the core and GO games.

The Silver Case / The 25th Ward: The Silver Case – My friend and I played through both of these, and they served as some of our first experiences to the visual novel genre. As a massive fan of Suda51, there was a lot for me to like in these vulgar, obtuse, and utterly ridiculous games.

Singularity – This game, like Advanced Warfare and Syndicate, had some really novel gameplay mechanics that set it apart from other first-person shooters.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – As the name implies, this game really is the ultimate. The ultimate love letter to Nintendo games, and a growing roster of third-party games. It will stay in my rotation until the next entry in the series, and likely even beyond that.

Syndicate – This game, like Advanced Warfare and Singularity, had some really novel gameplay mechanics that set it apart from other first-person shooters. (Yes, this is basically the same sentence as above).

Xenoblade Chronicles / Xenoblade Chronicles X – Both are games I played upon their original release, and loved, but failed to complete. This time around however, I was committed to seeing them through, all 100+ hours for each of them (or thereabouts). These are amazing JRPGs and both place high on my personal list for the genre.