2018 got off to a flying start with January, which turned out to be an incredibly strong month for new PlayStation games. Our staff vote was a tight one, with three different titles vying for that coveted Game of the Month award -- but ultimately, there can only be one winner.
Bronze Trophy: Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
Street Fighter V finally feels like the game it was always meant to be with the release of Arcade Edition. Injecting a healthy amount of single player content into what was already one of the most accomplished fighters on PS4 has elevated the overall package to new heights, and we now rank Capcom's brawler right up there with the best in the genre. We concluded our 8/10 review by writing, "the simple truth is that there's never been a better time to jump in."
Click here to read our full review of Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
Silver Trophy: Celeste
A tight and lovely looking platformer, Celeste weaves a great little story into its quality gameplay. Senior staff writer Stephen Tailby awarded Celeste an 8/10, calling it "a wonderful precision platformer that does far more than simply challenge your dexterity." Stephen concluded, "fans of both a steep challenge and a heartfelt narrative will find a lot to like about Celeste." Another game to add to the PS4's impressive indie pile.
Click here to read our full review of Celeste
Gold Trophy: Monster Hunter: World
It looks like Capcom's finally got its global Monster Hunter audience, and it's well deserved. Monster Hunter: World is a fantastic action role-playing title that's devilishly addictive, as guides editor Glen Fox knows all too well. "Monster Hunter: World is easily the finest entry in the franchise to date," Glen concluded in our 8/10 review. "The move to PS4 has only done it favours, with stunning visuals and environments that you'll want to get lost in."
Click here to read our full review of Monster Hunter: World
Platinum Trophy: Dragon Ball FighterZ
Beating out Monster Hunter: World by a single vote, Dragon Ball FighterZ has snatched our Game of the Month award for January 2018. Arc System Works' superb fighting game is a joy to play and behold, sporting some truly amazing visuals and a combat system that anyone can enjoy.
"Utterly stunning in motion and effortlessly capturing the essence of Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball FighterZ is a masterful video game adaptation," we wrote in our gushing 9/10 review. "Dragon Ball FighterZ is pretty much the best anime fighting game ever made."
Click here to read our full review of Dragon Ball FighterZ
And that's that -- the first month of 2018 is done and dusted. But what was your favourite game of January? Vote in our poll, and then feed us your thoughts in the comments section below.
What was your Game of the Month for January 2018? (69 votes)
- Celeste
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Monster Hunter: World
- Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
- Other
Please login to vote in this poll.
How we decide our Game of the Month: At the end of each month, the editorial team put together a list of nominees. Nominees must have been released within the month, and they must have been reviewed by Push Square. We select nominees based on our own review scores.
The editorial team then presents this list of nominees to the rest of the Push Square staff. Staff are asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to be crowned Game of the Month. First choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. When voting closes, we tally the results to determine the order of this article. The game with the most points is our Game of the Month.
Comments 26
What a great month. 2018 is looking good.
@ShogunRok February'slooking like a pretty, colossal, month as well.
hehehehehehahahahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!
I'll show myself out.
Very strong start to the year overall. I've played 2 new PS4 games this month.
Little Red Lie was the first I checked out and while it's an interesting premise, I really struggled to get into it, probably only putting just over an hour into it so far. It pushes the boundaries of what's a "game" and what's just a story but it's narrative failed to keep me hooked early on. I'm looking to sit down with it again at some point in the hope that it clicks because I'm sure there's something interesting there. Whether I'll find it or not is another matter.
Celeste is my favourite game of the year so far. I was hesitant at first despite its glowing reviews. The pixel art style is great, the music is fantastic, the simple but challenging puzzle-platform gameplay is both solid and smart. Where it truly shines in my view is its narrative. The story is on another level. I'm genuinely blown away by how they've managed to intertwine such an adorable and thought-provoking story into a game like this. I'm yet to finish (have 2 chapters left), but it's been absolute joy to play through.
Side note: I'm playing Celeste on Switch. But I'm so impressed with it, I've no doubt I'll be downloading it on PS4 at some point as well.
MHW is the only interesting release for me.
With that said, it's MH, so it counts for a lot.
Celeste for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it's my favorite new game of 2018.
I say "new game" because SotC is one of my favorite games ever, and the remake is incredible but not altogether a new game.
SFV AE is all I need until summer.
That's a very strong January.
MHW for me. The addictive mmo lite feel of Destiny with the combat of Bloodborne. First MH game I've played and I'm loving it!
SF V Arcade Edition is fantastic but it's not really a new game so I disqualified that. Only game that I'd really consider Game of the Month quality is MHW. And that game is freaking awesome. Have a feeling it'll be one of those rare games that releases early but sneaks its way into Game of the Year discussions at the end kind of like RE VII landed on a few lists for 2017.
@Gamer83 I would agree that Monster Hunter already is a GOTY contender, but you know these awards, soon will appear an unfinished game on early access just like pubg and they will pretend is the best thing ever, also ignore great games, especially Japanese games.
@PS_Nation
There's always something that the critics deem Game of the Year worthy that gamers don't agree with. But to be fair, while a lot games earned spots on top 10 or top 5 lists, Zelda swept top honors and no matter how anybody feels about that game, you can't call it incomplete. It was also an early-year release that held up. GOTY usually goes to a deserving game that has been fully completed.
@Gamer83 I mean, an unfinished game like pubg got more nominations than games like Yakuza Zero, Gravity Rush 2, Nioh, Resident Evil 7 and Nier: Automata, that was a disrespect, imo.
Zelda wasn't the issue, I really liked the game, even if it's not my game of the last year, I understand why it won.
@PS_Nation
Yeah, I understand what you're saying. I wish too that some other games would've gotten nominations over PUBG, but it is what it is. What I was saying about MHW still stands. I think that's going to be up for some awards come December. I wasn't even a big fan but there's something special about World and it has me hoping Capcom will port over XX for Switch so I can try that too. I'm very interested in the series now.
MHW is not only game of the month but a potential GOTY
Celeste all the way. Havent been so impressed by a game since probably Odyssey. Very challenging, cute, full of secrets and fun. Music is great too.
I couldn't disagree more. MHW is in a league of it's own. It is a masterpiece. How it only got an 8 will always be a mystery to me. How it didn't win Game of the Month by a landslide will only add to that mystery. Celeste (while not my style) is also great and would easily take #2.
Ican'teven.
@roe
I am the other way around. Got Celeste on PS4 for the trophies but I would pick it up again on Switch just to support the dev team. And have it portable.
Monster Hunter hands down...
@NathanUC Have you played FighterZ though? It's pretty good.
I never pay attention to review scores. That's such an antiquated way of determining a game's quality.
As a merit system I'd say review scores get one "My name Jeff" out of 5. It's a dead meme at this point.
@ShogunRok I played the beta a bit. No game comes close to tearing me away from MHW right now. It's video gaming perfection.
Also I'm terrible at fighting games except the Naruto one... because it's unbalanced and I know all the OP characters
Street Fighter V AE, Monster Hunter World, and DragonBall FighterZ. I’m currently playing all of these games here. And I’ve been playing SFV since it’s launch in 2016. Kinda hard for me to pick here.
Clearly there's some kind of mix up to have the anime fighting game as number 1. I'm looking forward to trying Celeste when it Gore's on sale on switch. But until then i have a lot of monsters to slaughter
Monhun world is taking all of my game time, I want to play dbfz and sf5 too
And I just download shadow of the colossus remake, I want to buy it sometime later but psn gave me 20% discount
@munkondi We're glad you care so much that you made an account just to post that.
To be fair MHW is going to be in a lot of GOTY discussions. I'm not sure the same thing can be said about Dragon Ball. Maybe some but I doubt as much as MHW.
To each their own I guess...
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