Welcome to Waypoint's End of Year celebration! This year, we're digging deep into our favorite games with dedicated podcasts, interviewing each other about our personal top 10 lists, and reflecting on the year with essays from the staff and some of our favorite freelance contributors. Check out the entire package right here!God, I really didn’t think I was going to make it to the end of this year. I remember thinking as recently as a month ago that the idea of me getting to today, December 26th, 2018, seemed totally impossible. And yet, despite everything, I’m here.
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As the year began coming to an end, and I started thinking about what my top 10 list would be, I was filled with dread. There were so many games I had wanted to play this year, and I was disappointed in myself for sort of “playing it safe” with the games I chose to invest in. I had so much Real Life shit happen this year that I found my mental and emotional bandwidth to be severely limited. Too often, when I got home at the end of the day, I rarely felt ready to pick up the controller and try something new, and instead leaned back on what was comfortable.If y’all haven’t listened to it yet, Austin and I did a podcast today interviewing each other on our lists, and I talk a little bit about this feeling at the top. (Also, if any of you make it to the end of that podcast, please let me know so I can congratulate and thank you for making it through our three hour word marathon.)But as I came around to the end of the podcast, my reflection on my year of games sort of shifted. I don’t think I played it safe this year—in fact, at least a handful of the games that made my list were completely outside my comfort zone. And I’m really proud of myself for that.So without further ado, my top 10 list. Thank you for sticking with me and with Waypoint, through everything we’ve done this past year. I am so grateful for getting to the end of 2018 with you all. And please, if you’d like to hear even MORE thoughts on each of these games, do head on over to our podcast feed.
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Honorable mentions include: Celeste, Dark Souls: Remastered, Dead Cells, Diablo III: Eternal Collection, Hot Pot Panic (check out my Free Play write-up on it here), Lego Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4, Minecraft (yes, again), No Man’s Sky: NEXT, Pokémon Let’s Go: Eevee!, Prey, Solitaire, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Unexplored.
10. Picross S2
9. DanMachi - MEMORIA FREESE
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Let me be very clear: Bell Cranel, boy wonder protagonist, is not GOING to the dungeons with the intent of picking up girls—rather, he HAPPENS to fall in love with one WHILE in the dungeon.After finishing the anime earlier this year, I decided to give the mobile game a try, because I am trash. It didn’t take me long to get the hang of DanMachi. The fight encounters only require you to choose an attack, and special attacks are accompanied by fun battle animations. The leveling up mechanics are easy to follow, and the gatcha system is relatively simple. The game has you play through the main story, which I still haven’t finished. Honestly, if I hadn’t just watched the show, I would probably still be playing. That and if tier lists were updated just a little more frequently.The Waypoint crew did an entire podcast on Sea of Thieves (featuring a very special guest!!!), so I’ll try not to say too much here.Instead, I’ll direct you to this stream Austin, Danika, Rob and I did of The Hungering Deep expansion. After watching this and listening to our podcast, you’ll know exactly how I feel about the wonderful nonsense that is Sea of Thieves. Enjoy!We ALSO did an entire podcast on Monster Hunter: World, so please give that a listen if you are interested in Austin, Patrick and I talking through our thoughts on it.I am so glad I finally found my way into the Monster Hunter series. I had never been able to get a grasp on the combat mechanics of these games, and perhaps it was all the Bloodborne I had been playing, but something finally just clicked. Playing on a big screen allowed me to really see not only the movement of my enemies, but also my own. I could see the specific animations of my combos, and could significantly feel their differences.
8. Sea of Thieves
7. Monster Hunter: World
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I will always love the way the creatures exist in this world, and my number one hope is to someday have the option of being their friend. Give me the zoologist playthrough of No Man’s Sky: NEXT, but in the environment of Monster Hunter: World. That’s all I want.
6. Into the Breach
5. Fortnite
Just for that moment of uninhibited joy, Fortnite made its way onto my list.
4. Minit
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Minit is now on everything but mobile, so if you’re looking for a short game that will challenge and delight you, give it a try.
3. Bloodborne
2. Undertale
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The night before Austin and I were scheduled to record, I stayed late at work to get a little bit more of the game in. When Austin and Cado saw where I was in the game, they strongly encouraged me to get to the end, and ended up staying with me until I finished it. And god, I’m so glad I did.I won’t put any spoilers here, but I will definitely be dropping into the forum thread for this article, because I have SO many more thoughts on what we ended up talking about on the podcast, and would love to talk to you all about them!Also, I should mention, the entire time I wrote this section (and a lot of the other ones as well) I was listening to track #71 on the Undertale soundtrack, titled “Undertale,” on repeat.