<p>It&#8217;s January. The year has just started and we already have a handful of game of the year contenders with <em>Resident Evil 7</em>, <em>Tales of Berseria</em>, and <em>Yakuza 0</em> releasing on the same day. 2017 was one of the best years for gaming since 2007. With such a consistent string of hits, 2018 couldn&#8217;t compete.</p>
<h2>It&#8217;s Not All Bad News</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/People-01.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-479033" src="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/People-01-640x360.png" alt="" width="640" height="360" /></a></p>
<p>Before people make erroneous assumptions, I am not saying 2018 was a bad year. The drought of the console generation&#8217;s first two years no longer applies. If you went to a store or browsed a digital storefront looking for new releases, you&#8217;d find multiple games worth your time and money. 2018 was a low-key year. It wasn&#8217;t filled with bad games and it didn&#8217;t lack good ones either. It was also a good year for both the AAA and indie spaces.</p>
<p>Smaller titles like <em>Paratopic</em> and <em>Return of the Obra Dinn</em> garnered unanimous praise. <em>Dusk</em>, the 90&#8217;s first-person shooter throwback, officially launched in December. <em>Life is Strange 2</em>&#8216;s first episode released. <em>Forza Horizon 4</em> became a runaway success thanks to Game Pass, pulling in people that normally don&#8217;t play racing games. <em>Soul Calibur</em> and <em>Valkyria Chronicles</em> made decent comebacks with their sixth and fourth mainline entries, respectively. <em>Red Dead Redemption 2</em> may have been divisive, but it&#8217;s one of 2018&#8217;s best reviewed games.</p>
<p><em>Hitman 2</em>, <em>Spider-Man</em>, and <em>Super Smash Bros. Ultimate</em> also released in 2018 to varying degrees of commercial success. 2018 was a good year, but it&#8217;s more like 2017&#8217;s younger, shier brother. He doesn&#8217;t have as many friends.</p>
<h2>The First Half</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/6-30-2018_5-45-49_PM.png"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-479035" src="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/6-30-2018_5-45-49_PM-640x360.png" alt="" width="640" height="360" /></a></p>
<p>We already established January&#8217;s simultaneous triple threat, but what about the following months?</p>
<p>February had <em>Nioh</em>, <em>Night in the Woods</em>, <em>Horizon: Zero Dawn</em>, and <em>Torment: Tides of Numenera</em>. March slowed down a little with <em>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild</em> and <em>Nier: Automata</em> making the biggest noise. April brought us <em>Persona 5</em>, <em>What Remains of Edith Finch</em>, and <em>Little Nightmares</em>.</p>
<p>May started strong with <em>Prey</em> releasing on May 5. It&#8217;s one of the most brilliantly designed and unique games of the generation. Coming from Arkane Studios, <em>Prey</em> is the perfect modern day interpretation of the immersive sim philosophy of game design laid down by <em>Thief</em>, <em>System Shock</em>, and <em>Deus Ex</em>. It didn&#8217;t sell that well, but it&#8217;s one of the generation&#8217;s most fascinating games.</p>
<p><em>Tekken 7</em>, <em>Nex Machina</em>, and the <em>Crash Bandicoot N. Sane</em> trilogy capped off the first half of 2017. These games may not be your personal favorites or even games you liked, but there&#8217;s no denying their quality and critical/consumer response.</p>
<p>What did the first half of 2018 bring? Remasters(not remakes) and late ports to other platforms aren&#8217;t considered for either year.</p>
<p><em>Dragon Ball FighterZ</em>, <em>Monster Hunter World</em>, <em>My Time at Portia</em>, <em>A Way Out</em>, <em>God of War</em>, <em>Pillars of Eternity 2</em>, and<em> Onrush</em> were the most noteworthy games of 2018&#8217;s first half. That&#8217;s not such an impressive start stacked against its older brother.</p>
<h2>The Second Half</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/maxresdefault.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-479037" src="http://www.gamerevolution.com/assets/uploads/2019/01/maxresdefault-640x360.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360" /></a></p>
<p><em>Splatoon 2</em> dominated July while <em>Hellblade: Senua&#8217;s Sacrifice</em> and <em>Lawbreakers</em> launched on the same day in August. <em>Lawbreakers</em> failed commercially, but it was an excellent arena shooter emphasizing skill-based movement. <em>Uncharted: The Lost Legacy</em> and <em>Yakuza Kiwam</em>i also released that month.</p>
<p>September, as the start of the holiday season, showed no signs of slowing down. We got <em>Divinity: Original Sin 2</em>, <em>Dishonored: Death of the Outsider</em>, and <em>Cuphead</em>. <em>Forza Motorsport 7</em>, <em>The Evil Within 2</em>, <em>South Park: The Fractured But Whole</em>, <em>Assassin&#8217;s Creed Origins</em>, <em>Super Mario Odyssey</em>, and <em>Wolfenstein 2</em> all released in October.</p>
<p>2017&#8217;s final two months were the only slow months, with <em>Xenoblade Chronicles 2</em> standing out the most. 2018 had a weak first half, but at least its second half improved.</p>
<p><em>Octopath Traveler</em> and <em>The Banner Saga 3</em> came out in July. August saw <em>Dead Cells</em>&#8216; official release along with <em>Overcooked 2</em>, <em>Yakuza Kiwami 2</em>, and <em>Two Point Hospital</em>. <em>Spider-Man</em>, <em>Shadow of the Tomb Raider</em>, <em>Valkyria Chronicles 4</em>, <em>Paratopic</em>, and <em>Life is Strange 2</em>&#8216;s first episode kicked off the holiday/fall season. October was an equally strong month with <em>Forza Horizon 4</em>, <em>Soul Calibur 6</em>, <em>Assassin&#8217;s Creed Odyssey</em>, and <em>Red Dead Redemption 2</em>.</p>
<p>2018&#8217;s final two months demolished 2017 releases within the same time frame. Between November and December, <em>Ashen</em>, <em>Dusk</em>, <em>Hitman 2</em>, <em>Spyro Reignited Trilogy</em>, <em>Battlefield 5</em>, and <em>Super Smash Bros. Ultimate</em> came onto the scene.</p>
<h2>Consistency and Quality</h2>
<p>Though 2017 began to wane in its final months, the consistency of its releases blows 2018 away. 2017&#8217;s best games like <em>Nier: Automata</em>, <em>Resident Evil 7</em>, <em>Persona 5</em>, and <em>Yakuza 0</em> stand out more than 2018&#8217;s games. You can argue about how refreshing <em>Return of the Obra Dinn</em> was. You could even argue that nothing last year brought as much simple joy as <em>Super Smash Bros. Ultimate</em> or <em>Spider-Man</em>.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, though, 2017 brought an endless flurry of must-play releases. With a more evenly spread calendar, more densely populated months, and a larger variety of experiences, 2017 will go down as this generation&#8217;s version of 2007. 2017 also brought Japanese games more mainstream attention than ever before. <em>Persona 5</em> became the franchise&#8217;s most successful entry. <em>Nier: Automata</em>, partially due to Platinum Games&#8217; involvement, brought more recognition to Yoko Taro along with the <em>Nier</em> and <em>Drakengard</em> IP&#8217;s. <em>Yakuza 0</em> marked the start of the <em>Yakuza</em> localization hype train, resulting in four <em>Yakuza</em> games over a year-and-a-half long time frame.</p>
<p><em>Resident Evil 7</em> revitalized a franchise that, to many, jumped a massive shark with <em>Resident Evil 6</em>. <em>What Remains of Edith Finch</em> reinforced the narrative potency of walking simulators. <em>Horizon: Zero Dawn</em> proved that a mediocre developer could create a fascinating game outside of its comfort zone. People adored <em>Breath of the Wild</em>&#8216;s systemic design.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>2018 did have moments like this. <em>Soul Calibur 6</em> arguably saved the franchise after the last misstep. 2017 simply brought more good games and more monumental moments for the industry and individuals on a more consistent basis. 2018 felt more top heavy with less overall game of the year worthy contenders.</p>

2018 Didn’t Match up to 2017
- Categories: Opinion
- Tags: BattlefieldCupheadDuskGame of the Year 2018HellbladeLife is StrangeNiernight in the woodsniohparatopicPCPlayStationPreyreturn of the obra dinnSoul Calibur 6SpyroTop StoriesXboxYakuza 0Yakuza 6: The Song of LifeYakuza Kiwami 2
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