Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
Developer: Spike Chunsoft
Publisher: Spike Chunsoft, NIS America
Platform: PS4, PS Vita, PC
U.S. Release Date: September 26, 2017
This series holds a well earned place in my heart, and while I'll fully admit to not giving V3 the time it deserves this year, the small time I had with it was magical nonetheless. Spike Chunsoft has continuously found new ways to keep the game fresh and entertaining through out the entire experience, and V3 is no exception to this rule. The cast is colorful, the scenery is impressive, and the story is downright bizarre as you try and discover the truth behind the events leading the cast into this new mind numbing killing game.
Nioh
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Koei Techmo, Sony Interactive
Platform: PS4, PC
U.S. Release Date: Feburary 7, 2017
With the surging popularity of Dark Souls a large number of games have released to try and recreate the iconic formula with varrying degrees of success. Nioh, decided to take the base core of Dark Souls and its stamina and resource management and grueling combat system and rather than mimic it, build on it in its own unique way. While I personally have never been a Dark Souls player I am in love with Nioh. The action is fast paced, faster I dare say than Bloodborne, the combat brutal, bosses challenging, and enemies unique. Enough is built into the game to keep you coming back for more with increasing difficulty and challenging modes being unlocked after completing the game even veterans Souls fans will find the games end post game a difficult challenge suitable for any who want to truly test their steel.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch
U.S. Release Date: March 3, 2017
I would be remiss not to point out that the newest Zelda game has done wonders for the Switch as a system. While the game is far from perfect, I do feel that a large amount of the success of the console can be attributed to this game. It was a major game to pick as a launch title for the console and one that I feel really turned the tide around for Nintendo in an otherwise bleak looking future. If not for Zelda and its massive fanbase the Switch would have probably only done half of its very impressive sales numbers this year. And for that reason I'm giving Breath of the Wild a well deserved honorable mention.
Now that we have the honorable mentions out of the way let us get on to the main course, the reason everyone is here. The top 5 game released in 2017.
5) South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Developer: Ubisoft San Francisco
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: PS4, XB1, PC
U.S. Release Date: October 17, 2017
To many, the South Park series is a childish cartoon that is full of bad jokes, bad language, and kids that any parent would be ashamed of. To many others, the show is a rare insight into cultural events with a very careful and calculated approach about some of the absurdities of modern culture. South Park: The Fractured But Whole does all of this and then some, but our topic this time is super hero movies. The game references the show very heavily (specifically the latest 4-5 seasons) and continues the story the the New Kid, or Dumbass as they are lovingly called, and even presents some kind of eye opening commentary on other subjects, surprisingly including the option for them to be transgender (speaking of which you get some hilarious Mr Mackey scenes if your character is a transgender female of him calling to talk to your parents) which I felt was a HUGE step forward.
The combat system is different this time around swapping the turn based Final Fantasy action for a grid based Fire Emblem inspired experience. You still have a turn based experience, however you are free to move your team around the board and use your abilities making your positioning a very large part of the game to avoid attacks, buff allies, maximize potential. Also some nice QoL changes are that your life recovers outside of combat, and that you have no resource pool on abilities, just turn cool downs, and your super bar is shared between your team. Without giving away too much of the game I can honestly say I highly recommend that everyone play South Park TFBW
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4) Super Mario Odyssey
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Switch
U.S. Release Date: October 27, 2017
To say that Nintendo isn't dedicated to their flagship titles would be akin to lying to people, and Super Mario Odyssey is the perfect example of this. A bold new Mario on a bold new console the game breathes fresh life into a tried a true Mario formula that doesn't seem be any more worse for wear despite its age. The game focuses around Mario and Peach and their every closing wedding day as Bowser crashes the party and take Peach as his own bride Mario must join forces with his new hat pal Cappy, board the ship known as the Odyssey and get back his betrothed.
The game boasts a fresh outlook on classic Mario approach by seamlessly blending 3D exploration with 2D platformer (sometimes literally). With Cappys abilities to allow Mario to take over the body of his enemies you are given new ways to solve puzzles and every thing you do seems to reward you. Nintendo spent some serious time devoted to level design and thinking it through in this iteration, if you as a player feels that a certain simple task or action should give you a Power Moon then chances are it probably does. No alley is left unexplored, everything in the game is placed there with meaning, and even the optional bosses and challenges are incredibly fun, even if they are difficult. It's the perfect pick up and play Mario experience. Now if only Nintendo could do some sort of achievement system....
3) Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Developer: Machine Games
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Platform: PS4, XB1, PC, Switch (2018)
U.S. Release Date: October 27, 2017
So uh, October was kind of a wild month with some really excellent games. And chief among these was Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which I'm going to refer to as Wolf 2 from here out. Wolf 2 sees the return of series front runner and most pissed off Nazi-hunter, BJ Blazkowicz, and oh boy is he mad. After spending 5 months in a coma, and discovering the Nazis are still on his ass about the whole "killing them" thing, BJ dons the super armor and takes the fight to the Nazis.....in America. His objective this time is to get all of America as pissed of as he is, and he does a pretty good job of it.
Wolf 2 is just a brutal, if not more so, than its previous entries in the series. The melee weapon this time around is a hatchet, which is (to no ones surprise) given a large number of over the top brutal Nazi enders in the form of regular and sneaky melee attacks. Another major QoL change this time around is the classic ability to run and gun with two different weapons. Want the stopping power of a shotgun but the range of an assault rifle? Toss on both and let the lead fly as you take it to the Nazis while shoving your boot up their collective assholes. My biggest complaint about the last game was the distinct lack of decent ranged options during the games stealth sections. Well fear not, for this time around we are given a weapon upgrade option which includes a silencer for the pistol, making it so you're not exclusively dependent on the games special weapon (the lazerkraftwerk in the last game and dieselkraftwerk in this one).
Finally I would be woefully remiss if I didn't at least mention that the mere existence of this game pissed off those on the far right and alt-right camps. It seems the lesson of 70 years ago was never drilled into some of our heads of Nazis being bad so we need to retell it in all its gory detail. If every other game on this list gets ignored don't skip this one, it is by far the most important game of the year, and not to mention one of the best.
2) Persona 5
Developer: Altus
Publisher: Altus, Atlus USA, Deep Silver
Platform: PS3, PS4
U.S. Release Date: April 4, 2017
Given my love of JRPGs this should come as little surprise to anyone. The fifth main installment, and first main installment in nine years, in the Persona, Persona 5 takes players on what I can only describe as an LSD fueled journey though the wild, weird, and wacky as you command The Phantom Thieves while they work to steal the hearts of all who are devoid of justice in Tokyo. The protagonist, whose name changes depending on media (Akira Kurusu in the manga or Ren Amamiya), lives a double life as a mild mannered high school student who must keep his nose down else he find a large amount of legal trouble, and a notorious phantom thief who sets out to other worldly palaces to right the wrongs that have been inflicted upon others in the world. In standard Persona style others will join you along your adventure and it is up to you to make the most of their involvement.
Fans of the Persona franchise will be familiar with the games robust social link system and time-limiting daily life schedule. As you race through dungeons to maximize your time in the real world to work on social links, social stats, and improve your character, so too must you pay attention to small details in game else you risk missing out on important opportunities like a rainy day bath, or a potential relationship with one of your social links. The game focuses heavily on the development of your list of personas and your social links only provide to buff them even further, granting you a bonus when combining a persona of the related arcana in addition to combat bonuses to developing relationships with your allies. For any long standing JRPG aficionado Persona 5 is a must play as you will get roughly 90 hours out of one playthough, and trust me, you'll want to do more.
None of that though even begins to approach the games amazing soundtrack, stunning visuals, and absolutely charming cast of characters, each a diverse and unique as the designs of their persona. Altus took their time on this one and the love and hand crafting that went into it speaks every minute that you play it. Numerous people on online message boards have actually given it large amounts of praise because of how accurate they were in depicting certain areas of Tokyo saying that they took their time and studied the city to bring it to life in game. With all the love and attention Person 5 received from Atlus lets just say that this is a game I will be talking about for years to come.
1) Horizon Zero Dawn
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4
U.S. Release Date: Febuary 28, 2017
My game of the year award goes to a game that I have been keeping my eyes on ever since it was first announced at E3 2015. Its a game that I feel reminds us why we play games, that tells a beautiful story with a positive message that doesn't get too preachy. It's a game that allows and encourages us to look at games as more than just an interactive experience and push forward ideas of what we can do with this medium. Of course I'm talking about Horizon Zero Dawn. In an age where the majority of AAA titles are focusing on how their games can get the most from their consumer Horizon Zero Dawn focuses on how it can give the consumer the most. With a truly impressive 40 hour storyline and a new game plus mode available for completionists HZD.
HZD focuses on the story of Aloy, a young woman who was cast out at birth of her Nora because no mother would claim her. As she grows with the help of a fellow outcast named Rost she aspires to be welcomed in the Nora so she can have a community she has never known. When it comes time to complete the trials into adulthood and be accepted back into the tribe the Nora are attacked and it is up to Aloy to track down the attackers and discover why. Over the course of her journey she discovers that she has a greater destiny and role to play in all of this and must overcome treacherous obstacles, discover the truth of what happened to the ancient ones and their cities, and find out why machines now rule the planet.
Of course those of us that have played the game though know that HZD is not only a game with a truly unique storyline, but it is also one of possibilities. A feature of the game that I've long held in high regard is how fun the combat is, and how engaging the game can be in its diversity of approaches. You can approach almost any fight in any number of ways, and different weapons add to the fun. Every person is different and will use different approaches. A good example of this is I'm a fan of traps, trip wires, and rope casters, while my roommate enjoyed slings a good bit. We each had a different approach to the same obstacles and found our own niche in doing so.
The most important part of HZD though, is that it's just plain fun. No strings attached. The game is beautiful, the music is moving, the art is something out of this world. Anyone who skipped this one would be remiss to not pick it up at some point to enjoy it. And thats why I'm naming Horizon Zero Dawn as my 2017 game of the year.
As with every year however there are some titles I unfortunately don't get a chance to play, I may have them sitting on my shelf, or maybe I never got around to buying them, but regardless these are games that I consider my misses of the year. Games that looked genuinely good and worthwhile, but unfortunately never got into my schedule. For 2017 the misses were:
HZD focuses on the story of Aloy, a young woman who was cast out at birth of her Nora because no mother would claim her. As she grows with the help of a fellow outcast named Rost she aspires to be welcomed in the Nora so she can have a community she has never known. When it comes time to complete the trials into adulthood and be accepted back into the tribe the Nora are attacked and it is up to Aloy to track down the attackers and discover why. Over the course of her journey she discovers that she has a greater destiny and role to play in all of this and must overcome treacherous obstacles, discover the truth of what happened to the ancient ones and their cities, and find out why machines now rule the planet.
Of course those of us that have played the game though know that HZD is not only a game with a truly unique storyline, but it is also one of possibilities. A feature of the game that I've long held in high regard is how fun the combat is, and how engaging the game can be in its diversity of approaches. You can approach almost any fight in any number of ways, and different weapons add to the fun. Every person is different and will use different approaches. A good example of this is I'm a fan of traps, trip wires, and rope casters, while my roommate enjoyed slings a good bit. We each had a different approach to the same obstacles and found our own niche in doing so.
The most important part of HZD though, is that it's just plain fun. No strings attached. The game is beautiful, the music is moving, the art is something out of this world. Anyone who skipped this one would be remiss to not pick it up at some point to enjoy it. And thats why I'm naming Horizon Zero Dawn as my 2017 game of the year.
As with every year however there are some titles I unfortunately don't get a chance to play, I may have them sitting on my shelf, or maybe I never got around to buying them, but regardless these are games that I consider my misses of the year. Games that looked genuinely good and worthwhile, but unfortunately never got into my schedule. For 2017 the misses were:
- Nier Automata
- .hack//G.U. Last Recode
- Resident Evil 7 Biohazard
- Tales of Berseria
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Puyo Puyo Tetris
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (though this is kind of in a special category as to why)
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2
I know it may seem like a long list, but when you consider I played 30-40 games this year, work a full time job, AND cosplay and go to conventions the fact the list is so small is rather impressive if I may say so myself.
That's it for 2017. Here's to hoping that 2018 is another great year in gaming. Have fun everyone!
