In yesterday’s Tell GR we covered the most underrated games of 2018, and now we’re catching the flip side. We asked the team to tell us their opinion on the most overrated games of 2018. Each of these games rated pretty highly at GR, but for one reason or another, the hype train derailed when it reached our editors.
Let us know below what your overhyped games of 2018 are, and we’ll post our favorite response in tomorrow’s Tell GR.
Jason Faulkner, senior editor: I enjoyed Spider-Man (I gave it a 4/5), but it was hyped like crazy in the weeks before its release. It was fun, but it was more like a distillation of what people liked about the PS2-era games more than anything. The lack of enemy variety, middling side quests, and possibly the worst portrayal of Mary Jane ever cast a bit of a cloud over the experience.
Mack Ashworth, lead editor: I have to go with Tetris Effect. Yes, Tetris was a cool game back in the 1800s, and VR has evolved to become actually decent now, but asking me for $40 is pushing things way too far. It’s a good game, but the hype was intoxicating.
Bradley Russell, news editor: I might have to be controversial and go a little left-field with this. Soul Calibur 6. The fighting was just as great as I expected it to be but, holy hell, the Libra of Souls single-player campaign is one of the most tedious, overwrought, boring things I’ve played in years. Each fight was either too easy or hilariously difficult, requiring you to go back and grind. But you couldn’t. Because you had to pay gold you didn’t have to go to places you wanted to reach. It all turned into a bit of a mess that, while it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the game too much, didn’t exactly warrant the praise that was bestowed upon it in the fighting game community and beyond.
Michael Leri, features editor: Red Dead Redemption 2 is one those rare titles where I just can’t force myself to pick it back up. Granted, I have only played a small handful of hours and I understand that it gets better, but that opening is a total slog each and every time I try to trudge through it. Complaining about the ridiculous amount of tedious, sim-like system is worn territory at this point. And while I didn’t like those mechanics during my brief tenure with it, I was more bothered by Rockstar’s utter ignorance toward making a competent third-person shooter. I’m going to force myself to play it during the break but my lack of drive to return to it combined with the overwhelming praise make Red Dead Redemption 2 a game I just don’t get like most other people.
Yesterday’s Best Comment
Question: What is the Most Underrated Game of 2018?
BLADE: “WarioWare Gold, a really hysterical collection of some of the mini-games of the series, featuring a fantastic performance by Charles Martinet as Wario… actually having LINES! I was ready to eulogize the 3DS, but this game sneaked up out of nowhere. Pleasant surprise!”
