So I hear that we have had a number of big games released this year. That's good, but as games get bigger, the prices of them also rise. So this year's list isn't as big as previous years, but its OK as I am planning to play the other games released this year when prices either go down or a sale is on. So like with TV and films, this list is video games first released this year that I have played and really enjoyed playing. Some will be console exclusives while others will be multi-platform. We also have to remember that this may be the last year for 8th gen consoles with rumours already spreading about the PS5 as well as the launch of Google Stadia. Going back to the list, I will not be including any ports of old games, compilations of games and remakes/remasters unless any of those releases had some significant changes like graphical changes or changes to the gameplay. So with that, let's play on:
Kingdom Hearts III
So with some film series and TV shows coming to an end or reaching the end of an era, the same can be said for some video games. The first triple A title to come out this year was of course the highly anticipated
Kingdom Hearts III. With the story being confusing still, the gameplay has some major improvements and even the worlds feel big and grand too. This time around we see Sora and the gang take on Hades' Titans, enter an icy labyrinth, find out what being a toy and monster is like, sail across the Caribbean ocean, have some fun with Rapunzel (no not that kind of fun) and get some help from a personal health care assistant. Yep this time around, Pixar are involved as are the newer animated films by Walt Disney Animation Studios and yeah it is a really big game. Lots of stuff to do and gives us a very satisfactory ending to the Dark Seeker Saga as it brings all well established storylines from the series so far to a close while setting the stage for future games. Great fun if you are a Disney fan, but be prepared for some intense gameplay.
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Videogame
So apart from mobile games, the only LEGO game to have been released this year was the tie in game to
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part. I guess TT Games wanted to spend more time on their upcoming
Star Wars game hence why we only got one game from them this year. So it is surprisingly a big game. It follows the plot of the film well and has a system in which the players get to explore different planets and settings based on both this film and the first LEGO Movie. Featuring characters from both films as well as several side quests and just good old fun in a game that has little to no levels and feels more like a successor to
LEGO Worlds than a traditional LEGO game with stud bars, minikits, people to save and so on. Its a good game for what it is and I hope we get more LEGO games like this in the future.
Super Mario Maker 2
Everyone loved the first one so much so of course Nintendo would be making another one. What's great about both Mario Maker games is that they build upon the idea of making your own levels (something of which had never been looked at ever since
Mario Paint came out) using elements and settings from five different Mario games with some of the game's own elements added to the mix (elements like night and day, sound effects and different types of enemies). I guess the real issue I had with this game is that it takes away amiibo functionality which was a very popular feature in the first one. But in its place is a pretty straight forward story mode in which you are tasked with building your very own castle for Princess Peach. So yeah an overall good successor to the first one and again I hope we get more like this in the future. Maybe with some other franchises like
Legend of Zelda or
Kirby.
Team Sonic Racing
Its been a while since Sonic had a racing game. But instead of it being an all star one this time, its only Sonic characters with an empathises on team based racing. This makes the game stand out over other kart racing games in that the team based stuff is not traditionally the main mode that people would be wanting to play. But nevertheless, that's what the developers went with and used
Sonic Heroes which is another team based game in the
Sonic franchise, as reference. Efficiency is key over speed this time around, but it can otherwise be seen as a racing game with an edge over its competitors. But its not a perfect game as the story is your typical
Sonic story that at first doesn't involve Eggman in great detail. But you know from the get go that he becomes the main antagonist at some point. Voice acting could be better too. But otherwise it is a fun game featuring numerous characters from across the
Sonic franchise and it may actually be able to compete almost evenly with
Mario Kart this time around. 8/10
Mortal Kombat 11
Speaking of endings to beloved franchises, here is another one. So for nearly thirty years, the world has come to know and love
Mortal Kombat as being probably the most violent fighting video game of them all. Particularly for the brutal fatalites and its characters. So with the eleventh game, the developers wanted it to not just finish the story that started with the 2011 reboot, but to also finish the overall saga that started all the way back in 1992. In a way its kind of like how the new
Star Wars film is set to end the Skywalker saga which was established many years ago. But anyway, onto the game now and we have over 25 fighters to play as. A few of them are new to the series while we also get veterans like Raiden, Scorpian, Sub-Zero, Cassie Cage and so on. Guest fighters include The Terminator, Spawn and even the clown prince of crime himself, the Joker. The story picks up from the last game in which the posessed Raiden attempts to set an example on Shinnok and protect Earthrealm from danger. But things then change when a bit of timey wimey stuff brings in alternate and younger versions of various fighters and it becomes a matter of fighting for a new timeline. Yeah a lot of time travel is involed and honestly, its not too bad of an entry. While the slow paced fighting and the graphics are pretty good, the story can be a bit confusing. The lingering features that it clearly picked up from
Injustice 2 are also features that most of us only wanted to see had they have been fixed but its not quite there yet. So yeah as the conclusion to the overall series, its a good conclusion. Just not a perfect game 8/10
And that's that. Feel free to leave comments on what your favourite games of the year are and let's look forward to some more great games in the near future.
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