Today’s issue of Weekly Famitsu included an interesting special that prompted 128 Japanese developers and industry professionals to vote their favorite games of 2018.
After that, each game was given points according to the votes provided by each developer, and a full ranking was compiled, with some definitely interesting results.
Below you can read the full list. Do keep in mind that you’ll find a few games that weren’t released in 2018. Developers are very busy, so they may end up playing a game late. Others simply keep playing the same game well beyond the first year as it takes them longer to clear it.
- Marvel’s Spider-Man
- Monster Hunter: World
- Detroit: Become Human
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- God of War
- Octopath Traveler
- Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
- Fortnite
- Conan Exiles
- Splatoon 2
- Astro Bot: Rescue Mission
- Dead by Daylight
- Fate/Grand Order
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection
- Cities: Skylines
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Dragon Quest Rivals
- Dungeon Maker
- Kyoutou Kotoba RPG Kotodaman
- Zanki Zero: Last Beginning
- Super Mario Party
- Border Break
- Teku-Teku Teku-Teku
- NieR Automata
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Clash Royale
- Dead Cells
- FarCry 5
- Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle
That’s certainly an interesting list, with the top dominated by PS4 blockbusters, and Octopath Traveler as the top-ranked Nintendo Switch game. While some like Monster Hunter: World and Red Dead Redemption 2 were also released on Xbox One and PC, in Japan they’re basically considered PS4 games since the market on Microsoft’s console and Steam is very small.
The article on Famitsu included the top choices of every developer, so let’s take a look at some of the most interesting picks.
Blazblue boss Toshimichi Mori from Arc System Works had Marvel’s Spider-Man as his favorite game of the year. Insomniac’s super-hero game was also ranked second for Persona 5 Director Katsura Hashino, behind Arcade Archives: Star Force.
Kadokawa Games boss Yoshimi Yasuda really loves strategy RPGs so his favorite was Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
GungHo Online Entertainment President Kazuki Morishita picked Red Dead Redemption 2, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Kenichi Ogasawara, known for his work on the Dynasty Warriors and Nobunaga’s Ambition series, favored Monster Hunter: World, again followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Atelier Producer Keisuke Kikuchi also had Insomniac Games’ title at the top, and the same can be said about his colleague Junzo Hosoi and Attack on Titan series Producer Hisashi Koinuma. On the other hand, their boss Kou Shibusawa preferred Red Dead Redemption 2. Team Ninja boss Yosuke Hayashi ranked God of War first, followed once again by Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Cygames Executive Producer Yuito Kimura was certainly an outlier, casting his vote for Fallout 76. His second-place vote was more akin to the norm with our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Granblue Fantasy Director Tetsuya Fukuhara had a PS4 triplet at the top, with Spider-Man, God of War, and Detroit: Become Human.
CyberConnect 2 boss Hiroshi Matsuyama leaned towards the Nintendo side, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as his game of the year.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Producer Yoshinori Kitase loved Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, while legendary Final Fantasy Producer Shinji Hashimoto kept his top vote in the house with NieR: Automata.
Yakuza series Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama went classic Japanese ojiisan casting his preference for Winning Post 8 2018.
Gravity Rush and Siren Director Keiichiro Toyama held true to his love for horror with Friday 13th: The Game. FIFA18 was his second favorite title of the year.
Danganronpa Creator Kazutaka Kodaka cast his top vote for Marvel’s Spider-Man followed by Detroit: Become Human. Nihon Falcom President Toshihiro Kondo also had Insomniac’s title at the top, followed by God of War. Ace Combat 7 Producer Kazutoki Kono had the same games as Kondo-san at the top of his list, but inverted.
Sword Art Online series boss Yosuke Futami favored Mega Man 11, followed by the omnipresent Spidey. Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada voted for Battlefield V, followed by Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Nier: Automata Director Yoko Taro voted for the Tiny Arcade series, while his second-place vote was for the Capcom Beat ‘Em Up Bundle. Designer Takahisa Taura, who created Nier: Automata’s gameplay was all the way on Nintendo’s side from 2017, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild followed by Splatoon 2.
Speaking of PlatinumGames, Hideki Kamiya also favored games for the Switch, with Shanghai Refresh followed by Arcade Archives Urban Campion, Sega Ages Phantasy Star, and The Famicom lineup provided by the Nintendo Switch online series. On the other hand, Executive Director and Producer Atsushi Inaba voted for Detroit: Become Human followed by Gorogoa.
Everyone’s beloved Senran Kagura Producer Kenichiro Takaki loved Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, followed by Dragalia Lost.
Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi voted for the mobile word game Kyoutou Kotoba RPG Kotodaman, while his second place vote was basically for himself, with the Super Famicom Classic’s version of Final Fantasy VI.
Level-5 Boss Akihiro Hino voted for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, while Comcept boss Keiji Inafune preferred Detroit: Become Human followed by Spidey.
It’s certainly interesting to see a result so strongly in favor of PS4 blockbusters among Japanese developers, especially considering how strong the Nintendo Switch has been and continues to be in Japan. That being said, it’s not all that surprising considering how many Japanese devs lean towards creating storytelling-focused games.
If you’re interested in reading what we thought were the best games of 2018, you can check out our own Game of the Year ranking. You can also read our review of Marvel’s Spider-Man.
Source: Weekly Famitsu.
