This is your strangest thread yet.

Obviously these are personal lists, but Western Composers got a lil robbed. Jeremy Soule - Elder Scrolls Composer, being an omission is only slightly miffing but Martin O'Donnell?! Halo is one of the most iconic soundtracks in the industry. A glaring omission.

Youtube Video

Youtube Video

Not paying attention to the picks though, I adored the video. What a jolly edit, full of great music. Amazing Editing!

That soundtrack though. I want to play this game just to listen to the music.

Youtube Video

To this day it bothers me how bad a reputation Assassin's Creed 3 has, the reactions on the Allies stream had me squirming. It's buggy as all hell but it has some of the best design in the series, in my mind the best of the ones I have played (1 -> Black Flag).

I can't say that playing it on a Switch will be amazing but give it a go!

So,

Not long ago in the 2018 Desire Index thread, I explained how Resident Evil 2 was at the bottom of it because I had absolutely no taste for Survival Horror. I've never liked scary things and I'd tried them multiple times but never "gotten" it.

Then RE2 comes out and it looks like an incredible game, something that I'd actually enjoying playing.

So, IGN guide open, Trainer at the ready if required, I started playing Resident Evil HD Remaster. And after a 6 hour stint tonight, I just completed it. You bet I read every single line of that guide, and you bet that having the Trainer running made my anxiety a little less high, and you bet I played on Very Easy, but I didn't actually activate a cheat once, I got REALLY into the story (Lisa :(), and I got the true ending.

Like, the first time I dodged a Zombie in a hallway and let him live for the entire game, dodging again and again... Goosebumbs.

I'm really proud of myself, like you wouldn't believe, as I never considered myself getting a taste for the genre, but I really see the appeal now, especially of Resident Evil. In fact, I can now see that a lot of the stuff I liked about Dead Rising 1 were directly taken from Resident Evil.

I'm definitely going to skip RE2 and 3 for now as they are (or will be) the newest in the series, might read the a story synopsis. Definitely going to play a less anxiety driven game next (AC: Unity) but I do reckon that 2019 is going to be the year I work my way through the Resident Evil series, starting with the other "Great" Resident Evil game. Resident Evil 4.

I really like the shoes :)

Oh shit, did I make Red Dead get second with my last second change @Axel ?

I expected to be the only votes for Black Ops 4 but very surprised about The Walking Dead and how few votes there were for FighterZ. Ahh well.

Thanks again Axel, looking forward to the retro list in July-ish time!

@mbun said in The EZA Community Top 25 Best of 2018!:

how most missions just devolve into shootouts,

This just isn't true. RDR2 has tonnes of mission variety, with many missions where you never pull out any kind of firearm.

Besides the fact, describing any mission where you do use firearms in this way is just being reductionist. Criticising RDR2, a western videogame, for having a lot of shootouts is like criticising Megaman for being mostly jumping and shooting, or how Metal Gear Solid has too many stealth sections. Red Dead Redemption 2, like almost all other games of its calibre, is greater than the sum of its parts.

And my obligatory list:

1. God of War
2. Red Dead Redemption 2
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
4. The Walking Dead: The Final Season
   HM: Kingdom Come: Deliverence
   HM: Dragonball FighterZ
   HM: Forza Horizon 4
   HM: Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Well, RDR2. I already gushed over it in the recent Cup of Jones, but I love the cinematography in this game. It's basically a 60 hour film and it's wonderful for it. Easily my favourite thing:

Colm O'Driscolls final couple of missions were incredible.

The only problem I found is that gameplay clearly came second in a lot of places. While the hunting is 'realistic', it's also a gigantic timesink that doesn't care for the players time. Systems were implemented for the sake of implementing systems. Getting supplies for the camp is a huge focus of the first few missions but from what I can tell has absolutely no impact at all. The economy is really broken and completely breaks your immersion. You get a huge payout early in the game and never need for money ever again.

And of course God of War. I think this is going to be the best game on PS4. It's just incredible. The world design, the gameplay, the wonderful story. It's all bundled up brilliantly together in a tight package.