Fenix Phyre's Top 5 Games of 2017

So I want to start off this list by first giving the disclosure that not all of these games are games that I've played to completion, as when you tend to play 20-30 games a year finishing ALL of them is an incredible feat that typically doesn't happen.  That being said I have played enough of them to get the general idea behind the game and its effects to a satisfying level for myself to feel I can talk about it in a complete and positive light, even if I'm missing some aspects of the story.  Also while no game is ever disqualified from these prestigious awards I would like to emphasize that I do take things like microtransactions, HD remakes, and general reaction between community and publisher/developer in to account as well (albeit to a much smaller degree than the core game play mechanics). With that lets being with a small section of honorable mentions:

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

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:

•  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!

Rantology: That Kotaku GameStop Article

Okay. sooooooo yea, journalism, not just mainstream but games as well, has a really nasty habit of not doing their research and sensationalizing things.  Specifically I'm talking about a recently published article on Kotaku about GameStop's Circle of Life.  What I want to do here is discuss a few critical things in this article, and bring to light a few facts that were conveniently left out, or not communicated.  First though, I make transparency in what I do a point of personal pride, so with that in mind I'm going to be transparent, and as I've stated before, I am employed by GameStop on a part time basis.  I'm not a manger, I'm not in charge of a store, or a district, simply a Game Adviser.  Now along with that, there is a document I signed called the "Social Media Posting Guidelines" that more or less state that I cannot post about upcoming promotions, company "secrets", inventory, and other things of that ilk.  I'm probably going to be going against that, but the truth is way more important in this issue than that piece of shit corporate sellout document in this case.

Okay, I'm going to leave images out of this as much as I can, since this is kind of a brass tax issue.  I'm also going to quote the Kotaku article directly and offer my insights and personal experience about this.  So if this isn't that funny, I apologize, but I feel this is one of the few times I need to be somewhat serious and address an issue head on.

The article starts off like this: "They may simply be lying to you, fueled by a new program that discourages GameStop salespeople from selling unopened copies of video games.

The program, called “Circle of Life,” gives each GameStop store different percentage quotas for 1) pre-orders; 2) reward card subscriptions; 3) used game sales; and 4) game trade-ins."  The fact is that is simply not true.  Circle of Life is a sales technique that has been used by GameStop for years.  The idea is that the PRO card is the center of it all and drives everything else, it further goes on to say when you buy a new game you want to pre-order it to make sure you have a guaranteed copy you can get when it releases, then when your done playing that game you are welcome to trade it back to us and apply the money you get towards another game, if it's preowned all the better for us, and we encourage you to keep pre-ordering games to keep you coming back.  More or less trades drive value, which drives sales.  It's not a new sales program, and neither are the metrics behind it.  They're just now what we're focusing our numbers on.

"Each of these quotas is based on the store’s total transactions. Pre-orders and reward cards subscriptions are based on the number of transactions, while used game sales and trade-ins are based on the total dollar value of transactions. If a store’s quota for used game sales is 30%, and the store sells $1,000 worth of merchandise, GameStop expects at least $300 of that merchandise to be pre-owned."  Wrong.  This isn't true at all either.  In fact it's so untrue it could be called an Alternative Fact.  These numbers are derived from qualifying sales.  If an item CAN be sold as preowned, then it will ping the numbers, but if its a t-shirt, yea that's not happening.  Same with the PRO card.  If you have a PRO card attached to an order already it wont hurt your PRO numbers, same if the card would offer no value to the transaction.  I've done the numbers, looked at the statistics, and personally performed the experiments on all of this.

"In other words, according to salespeople speaking to Kotaku and elsewhere on the internet, GameStop is incentivizing employees to stop people from buying new games and hardware. " Again, this is simply not true, we're not incentivized to do shit.  We don't see extra money, we don't see less.  Yea, they'd like for us to hit these goals, and it makes us look A LOT better if we do, but as far as I've been made aware there has been absolutely no communication from leadership saying we need to stop selling new product.  What this is, however, is a case of shitty employees and managers seeing this, trying to get their numbers up, and telling people this.  If you trust your local store then continue to go there and utilize them as a resource, but I can assure you, the "official policy" isn't to lie to customers.

"“We are telling people we don’t have new systems in stock so we won’t take a $300 or $400 dollar hit on our pre-owned numbers,” one GameStop employee told me in an e-mail, requesting anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to press. “This is company wide and in discussions with my peers it is a common practice. We also tell customers we don’t have copies of new games in stock when they are on sale—for example, Watch Dogs 2 is currently $29.99 new and $54.99 pre-owned. We just tell them we don’t have the new one in stock and shuffle them out the door.”"  Again, see above.  This is an example of one shitty person in the GameStop hierarchy making it shitty for everyone else, not the company as a whole.

"GameStop staff have told me that corporate managers are monitoring both stores and individual employees, asking everyone to get a COL score of at least 75% by hitting at least three of their four quotas. If a store is hitting their COL targets but one salesperson is not, that salesperson may face punishment or even lose their job, according to company employees." While some of this is true, the fact remains that its not in the official policy that we can be fired over this.  If it was, we would have signed a form to acknowledge the policy changes as is federally mandated by US law.

Really the take away here is that the people who were talking to Kotaku either made a lot of this up, are really shitty people, or have really shitty people directly above them.  Yes the CoL is a thing, no it doesn't mean we're out to get you.  Yes PRO and preowned make up a HUGE portion of our profits, no that doesn't mean everyone is going to try and push you on all of it and make you do the 20 questions dance.  Yes its important for us to hit our goals, but its no more important than you and your job, and even if we do face punishment up to including termination we still have a right to fight back and ask why.  This is all just another one of those desperate stupid post holiday policy changes every store does to make its final quarter look a little better than it actually is and end on a high note.  Why is it so aggressive then?  Well 2016 sucked, and surprisingly enough it sucked for games too.  not much major came out and even the yearly heavy hitters didn't do well, but 2017 is looking to change that.

I could go into this more and talk about how we used to push the warranties and season passes super hard and were judged off them as well, but I'm not, I've said my piece.  I hope you found this insightful and somewhat useful in trying to get a better grasp of this situation.

Rantology: How Nintendo can make the Switch succeed

Ugh, so this really kinda makes me mad, I've been telling myself to stick to reviews and not get into opinion pieces about how the gaming industry can improve itself, but wouldn't you know it Nintendo had to go out, announce the Switch, and make me go back on my word to myself.  Well God-fucking-dammit, if I can't catch a break here we go again.  This is something I like to call Rantology, in other words me spewing on about a subject for who the hell knows how long trying to make it as funny as possible while hopefully offering a potential fix that the gaming industry is then able to use free of charge (though a few free games wouldn't hurt).  So buckle up kids, we're about to get dirty and possibly shove our face in something we really want nothing apart of.

On January 12th Nintendo did a full reveal of their Nintendo Switch, the successor to the shit-laden thrown of the WiiU.   And boy, was it a train wreck.  Now the hardware looks solid and has a solid idea behind it.  A home gaming console you can take with you and play with your friends on the go.  I love it, purely and simply this is the kind of idea that put Nintendo on the top back in the 90's.  Now their execution of it during their live stream, well lets just say embarrassing barely does it justice.  Nintendo fucked up this conference in the only way that Nintendo possibly could have, and now, we have to hope and pray that Nintendo can save the Switch from the same fate as the WiiU.

Well what happened to the WiiU you ask?  Well sit right the fuck down, strap in (and on where appropriate, I don't judge), and get ready for one mild ride.  Ultimately the WiiU failed for being the Wii, but also not being the Wii, and not the PS4 or XB1.  What does that mean?  Well simply put it was something most people saw as something that should have been an expansion for the Wii and not a standalone console.  A tablet that doubles a controller is a really good idea, just not at a $150 price point for a tablet alone, and neither is the idea that only one player can use it, oh and you can't do asymmetrical games with it, oh and it will play original Wii games, but you need to go into an emulator mode, and there's no decent 1st or 3rd party support, and all those old digital games (in the digital fucking era I might add) are getting left out too, and what do you mean its not as powerful as a PS3??????   Yea the WiiU was a let down, and there's really no two ways around that.  Now don't get me wrong I love my WiiU, and Xenoblade Chronicles X is one of my favorite games, but with that being said Nintendo really missed their mark on the console.

What does this mean for Nintendo and the switch?  Well they need to really overcome the failings that happened with the WiiU, or history is doomed to repeat itself, and some of these things, the Nintendo Switch, or what I hope to not have to call it, the Nintendo Shits, is already doomed to do.  First and foremost, the Switch needs to have the same graphic performance as its competitors.  Lets be real, we live in an age of 1080p and 4k, and if you can't AT LEAST hit 1080p in the home (the whole 720p on the go is fine as its a smaller screen and much more reasonable for conservation of battery life) then you need a serious cognitive re calibration (read: kick to the teeth).  Unfortunately, I see Nintendo failing on this aspect.  I don't see them releasing an upgraded dock (for a reasonable price) to upgrade the output to 4k, nor do I see them even making that a priority, which will drive down other areas.

The next HUGE thing Nintendo needs to do, coincidentally, is also the first step of the D.E.N.N.I.S. System: Demonstrate Value.  As if I, the consumer, am one of Dennis' many sexual targets, Nintendo needs to demonstrate their value to me.  And by value I mean justi-fucking-fy the goddamned subscription cost of your online services besides a one month rental of a classic game (that chances are I won't even be able to pick) and just fucking give me like 4 of them.  I mean seriously, how much money will they be out in the long run? Nothing? I mean these games have already made their initial sales when they launched, and most of them don't even hold the replayabilty as they once did due to the limitations of the time when they were made.  Seriously, its not that goddamned hard Nintendo, get your literal head out of your literal ass and give me value in your online subscriptions, or this potentially awesome console or face me not giving you money for them.

Oh, while were on the subject of retro games, I have one more teensy weensy, itsy bitsy request.  *ahem* NINTENDO, IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME YOU RELEASE MORE THAN ONE CLASSIC GAME A MONTH.  Seriously.  I can go online right now and get a SNES emulator, and a ROM for each and every game on the system.  For every game that Nintendo holds the rights too for older consoles (and trust me, theres a lot of them) there is zero, zlich, nada, nuffin, none, no reason why they aren't available digitally for a reasonable price (read not $10-$20 and more like $5).  Seriously, unless you want to change the graphics interface looks, in which case you haven't really made a huge effort recently, you have no excuse here.  In fact let me give you one very large reason to do this instead: MONEY.  It will make you money, especially from people like me, who like to play older games sometimes, and have disposable income to purchase them, especially if they aren't $20 for a game I'll play a couple of times for like an hour or two.

Now, this is a big one, and by big I mean huge, like mega huge.  So big it makes yo mama look tiny, and she chased your school bus this morning thinking it was a twinkie.  Third party support.  What does this mean?  Well simply put Nintendo needs to make sure that they not only have 3rd party companies make games for them, but these companies are committed to making games for them.  I mean how much fun is it really if the only games I can play on a Nintendo system are games only Nintendo makes or licenses, and I can't play other huge games like Overwatch, Mass Effect, Batman, and others, all because of Nintendo's dumbass quality control and insistence on the Switch being "family friendly".  Sorry Nintendo, that won't earn you a top place in the current industry.

Finally, and this is probably the biggest, the last thing Nintendo needs to do to make the Switch successful is to not forget about it like we all try to do with our alcoholic, misogynistic, and racist uncles....unless that's just me.  But really, the WiiU fell out of relevancy because Nintendo spent so much time and money on the 3DS that they just kinda forgot it was a thing after pitiful sales and poor release numbers.  With 2 million units preordered world wide Nintendo is looking at a bigger launch than the PS4 and XB1, so they certainly have the momentum, but with some of their release lineups I'm not sure they can last very long out of the gate till we start seeing a good amount of games consistently coming out for it.  Ultimately time will tell, but Nintendo needs to understand that if their sales drop after a month or two, they need not panic, just to commit to their customers and buckle down for the long run.

So really that's it.  I feel like a whore for going back to this whole Rantology thing again, but you know what, I kinda don't care.  Either way the Shits comes squirting out in a month and we'll see how it goes.  Till next time kids.