This a list of all the games, new and old, I completed in 2017. The goal for this year, just like all years, is to finish more of the games I've purchased but also to finally complete some of the longer RPGs I've started, such as the Trails games.
For past lists check out:
(2/27) - I might write up a more detailed blog post about both of these games later but my opinion on Trails of Cold Steel haven't changed much from my comments in last year's list. The game still has pacing issues, with the beginning of the game starting out fast and then slowing down to a crawl in the 2nd act, but I still love the world and characters a heck of a lot. The ending was also surprisingly layered as well as full of the usual fun plot twists and epic battles. I spent almost a year playing through both games and the characters went on a yearlong adventure, so when everyone said their final good-byes it was pretty emotional. I already knew I liked the Trails series after playing Trails in the Sky FC a few years ago but the Cold Steel games have made me a live-long fan.
(4/5) - I am not the biggest fan of open-world games. Titles like the original Xenoblade are one of a few exceptions but even games that have open-world elements, like Rise of the Tomb Raider, just tend to rub me the wrong way. Navigating big empty worlds that are only full of thousands of crafting materials and boring side-quests given to you by lifeless NPCs simultaneously bore and overwhelm me. So when I heard that Zelda was going open-world I was a little worried but thankfully my worries were misplaced. Not only is Breath of Wild chock-full of things to do and interesting locations to explore but actually navigating the world is fun by itself. Paragliding across mountains or taking a relaxing ride on your horse are all entertaining and make exploration fun. The world is also full to the brim with fun and colorful characters who are a joy to talk to and learn their stories. Even the overall narrative is fairly engaging with the memories that you discover throughout Hyrule being a highlight for me. The voice acting can be awkward at times and the main dungeons are sort of uninspired but I still had an amazing experience playing Breath of the Wild and it is certainly the best open-world game I've played to date.
(4/20) - I was on a Falcom high after finishing Trails of Cold Steel so I decided to finally try out Nayuta no Kiseki, which I had been interested in playing since it was announced years ago. It is a real shame that Nayuta was never officially localized because, besides being one of the best looking PSP titles, the game is an action RPG that rivals the company's storied Ys franchise in many ways, although it technically has more in common with another Falcom title called Gurumin. Even though I played Nayuta using a rough English translation patch, I could still feel all the usual Falcom charm and attention to detail in every NPC and in the game's overall story, which is very by-the-numbers in many aspects but well executed. Nayuta also has some really well designed levels and the abilities you gain later on in the game are incredibly fun to use and are well integrated into every aspect of the game. There is also a ton of content, with the main story and "after story" taking about 25 hours to complete with new levels, enemies and sidequests being introduced all the way to the game's climax. I enjoyed Nayuta far more than I was expecting and it makes me wish more of Falcom's smaller action-focused titles where available in English, officially of otherwise.
(7/9) - I wasn't planning to play Echoes at all when it was first released because after finishing Birthright and Conquest, about 150 hours in combined playtime, I was kind of tired of Fire Emblem. Honestly I was downright sick of Fire Emblem after playing through the first two parts of the Fates' trilogy which, for the record, I thought were very poor on a story and character level (not to mention I sort of felt tricked after discovering that Birthright and Conquest were essentially the same game with virtually the same content). Despite my better judgment I ended up buying Echoes after seeing my brother play it and was surprised at how much I liked it. Echoes almost feels like a palate cleanser for the series after Fire Emblem Fates, changing up the gameplay and art style just enough to feel fresh. The story was also a dramatic improvement over Fates. While the narrative is nothing original, it is presented very well and the addition of full voice acting adds a lot to the gravitas of each scene. Echoes certainly doesn't feel like the next big installment for the series but it is a very enjoyable side-story that I was happy to experience.
(7/18) - This was one of the many games that came out in the beginning of the year that I really wanted to make sure I got to. I enjoyed the game a lot and while I didn't think it was always scary it was certainly tense. The atmosphere was also very similar to the Resident Evil 1 remake but with enough original ideas to feel like a new experience instead of just a copycat. After playing RE5, as well as seeing what a disaster the sixth game was, it was really nice to play a downright great entry in the franchise that has a strong sense of confidence in its direction. Now I'm interested to see how Capcom follows this up.
(7/19) - Utawarerumono: Mask Of Deception is a good game but one that can only be recommended with several caveats. First of all, while the game advertises itself as a hybrid between a visual novel and a strategy RPG it is certainly much more of the former than it is the latter. Be prepared to spend most of your time reading with sometimes several hours of gameplay passing without a single battle. Secondly, the story's progression slows down to a glacial pace in the middle of the game with around 15 to 20 hours spent on almost nothing but slice-of-life episodic adventures where nothing really plot important happens. Finally, just like Trails of Cold Steel I, Mask of Deception is the first part in a duology so, right when the story starts to pick back up again, the game drops a huge cliffhanger and abruptly ends. With all that in mind, I still enjoyed Utawarerumono: Mask Of Deception and am even looking forward to the sequel. The game has a very nice presentation with great character artwork, voice acting and music. Even the 3D graphics during battles are very solid, containing a lot of color and punchy animation. And while the battles are sometimes few and far between the mechanics for these segments are very well done, even though the difficulty level is very low. Characters are also fairly well written, avoiding a lot of the usual anime stereotypes while unfortunately falling for every possible cliché to get the female characters naked you could think of (which honestly works out fine in some scenes but feels incredibly forced and dumb in most others). Utawarerumono's pacing could be a deal breaker for a lot of people, even VN fans, but I liked just turning on my Vita every so often to spend a few minutes hanging out with the game's fun cast and playing the fun battle segments when I could get them. Right now I'm feeling good about my time spent on the game, even a lot of the slice-of-life stuff in the middle of the game ended up being important for the ending to have the proper impact it does. But I guess I'll need to see if the sequel can stick the landing with its ending before I can really say if Mask Of Deception is worth experiencing.
(8/16) - I grew up playing the classic Genesis Sonic games and I had the biggest smile on my face almost the whole time I played Mania.
(10/21) - I'll just say that I thought the ending was great...
(11/3) - I was both excited and worried when I first purchased my copy of Ys VIII since I had enjoyed older entries in the series, like The Oath in Felghana, but did not like what I had played of the most recent installments, Seven and Celceta. The previous two Ys titles had felt over stuffed with meaningless dialogue, a party system that never really justified its existence, tedious crafting and stories that were underwhelming. Ys VIII on the other hand feels like a breakthrough, a realization of the potential of Falcom’s modern structure for the franchise. The presentation is now a true 3D perspective, allowing more three-dimensional level design instead of the flat terrain seen in the past two entries. Movement is incredibly fun thanks to the return of a jump button, giving the player a much wider move set while again giving more dimension to levels by adding more vertical exploration. Gathering materials is now simplified to just hitting a material cluster once with your sword instead of the annoying button mashing from Seven. The party members all feel distinctive in terms of their abilities and movement speeds. Mapping out the island and discovering new land marks adds an exciting sense of adventure to the setting. The story gives interesting context and tension to your actions while throwing in a few mysteries to chew on. The characters are all likable and as the game continued I grew very attached to many of them, making the bitter sweet epilogue all the more effective. And finally, I felt a satisfying sense of progression as I watched my village of castaways grow and change with every story mission and side quest I completed. Ys VIII is the game where Falcom has finally figured out the secret sauce for making a modern Ys game and it is perhaps my favorite entry in the whole series. The only thing holding it back is the awful English script by NIS America, that will hopefully be fixed in the future patch that is meant to revise the game’s translation. But even with its poor localization Ys VIII is one of my favorite games I’ve played this year and I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here.
(11/3) - I feel like I want to write a whole lot about how cool this game is but what else is there to say that hasn't already been said? It's a Mario game, it's fun. Also the game's final moments are out of this world.
(12/23) - One of the best games I've played this year. Also accents are awesome!
