Game of the Year 2017

A pretty great year for gaming. I feel like I played a lot less games this year but got a lot more gaming in. Many of the games on my list are quite lengthy, far longer than I usually have time for now that I have a fairly young family, but the nature of the games meant that I generally wanted to see them through. There are some games that I want to go back to playing, and some (like Shadow of War) that I have no real interest in trying again.

Games that may have made the list if I actually had time to buy them/play them: Total War: Warhammer 2, Nier Automata, Cuphead

Game I was most tempted to add: Stardew Valley (Switch), but I didn't play that much of it compared to last year

Game I can't believe didn't make the top 10: Thimbleweed Park

Game that would've made the top 10 except the last portion of the game really disappointed me and it had really great music all though the game except for the menu music: Night in the Woods.

Worst credits music of all time: Wolfenstein II

List items

• 

  Divinity: Original Sin II

  #10 There was a time in my life when this would've been my #1 game of the year. At some point down the track, this may actually end up being my favourite game of the year. I've never played DnD or any roleplaying campaign, but I've always loved CRPG games. When I was younger I devoured Baldur's Gate, what a great experience. My copy of Gloomhaven arrived the other day and I can't wait to dig into it. I enjoyed Divinity: Original Sin 1 but hated the story. I've played 20 hours of DOS2, and the writing is infinitely better than its predecessor.

  This game just arrived at a time where I was fairly busy with work, life and everything else and it didn't hook me in for some reason. I haven't had time to go back to it but wholly intend to, and I'm looking forward to it. This has potential to be my 2018 '2017' game of the year (though XCOM2: War of the Chosen is calling me back as well)

• 

  Nioh

  #9 Another game I dropped off, due to other releases and commitments that I really want to go back to, though I expect it to be tricky to go back to straight away. Love the setting (and, linking to another board game, really looking to getting Rising Sun next year). Enjoyed the controls. Bloodborne-esque but with enough differences to keep it interesting. The nature of the levels was interesting but I think I preferred Dark Souls and Bloodborne's unified world to Nioh's broken up levels.

• 

  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

  #8 I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. This is another game that I'd like to get back to. I have been really on and off this game quite a bit since getting my Switch. I haven't found the world to be as compelling as many others have, but I can recognise that genius in it. Parts of the game I find to be brilliant, but I don't know if I'm having that much fun playing it. It's tough to articulate what exactly it is about it, but it didn't grip me.

  That being said, what I have played of it certainly justifies it's place here on my list.

• 

  Golf Story

  #7 Okay, here's the first game I've actually finished (wait til you get to my #3 game though).

  The writing isn't as funny or clever as it thinks it is.

  The story drags a bit longer than it should.

  Criticisms out of the way though, the game has a great look, the mechanics in it are solid and the world it builds itself is a pretty fun one to be in. This game wouldn't have worked as well if I was sitting down to play it on TV or PC, but, as a Switch game, it was great for a short 15min to 30min burst here and there to work my way through.

• 

  Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

  #6 So, hands up who else likes Wolfenstein games for their story?

  There was one scene in this game that properly had my jaw dropped and I really want to see through the goddamn story arc of BJ Blasckowicz. That is an achievement in and of itself. I played through on easy (Can I play, Daddy?) based on what I heard from the Bomb and Beastcasts, and found that to be an enjoyable way to play the game.

• 

  Persona 5

  #5

  Where have you been?

  Been searching all along

  Came facing twilight on and on

  Without a clue

  Without a sign

  Without grasping yet

  The real question to be asked

  Where have I been?

  I'm a shape shifter

  At Poe's masquerade

  Hiding both face and mind

  All free for you to draw

  I'm a shape shifter

  What else should I be?

  Please don't take off my mask

  Revealing dark

  This game is long and drawn out, and some parts go on for too long, but man, it has styyyyyyle

• 

  Horizon Zero Dawn

  #4 This is a game that I feel like I played years ago, it was that far back (in my mind anyway). What I remember though was having a great damn time bringing down robot dinosaurs. The story was interesting and the world that was created was a really interesting one. I enjoyed roaming around and finding collectibles in this world, and enjoyed most of the combat encounters.

• 

  Assassin's Creed Origins

  #3

  So....I've only played 8 hours of AC: Origins at this point.

  This might be my favourite AC game since ACII, and I've played all of them except for Unity and Rogue.

  The setting is better than I thought it would be. I'm an Ancient History tragic and was dubious of the Ptolemaic rather than New Kingdom setting, but it seems to be working.

  Bayek is a cool character and is well acted.

  I'm so far intrigued in the story, though it's not mind blowing.

  The combat is the best an AC game has had, but it is also not mind blowing.

  The world though, the world is riveting. I properly enjoy exploring these areas, the side quests are far better fleshed out (I won't put them on The Witcher III level, but far better than any prior AC game).

  Unless the game turns to complete trash for the next 50 hours, I think it deserves its spot on my list. Also it's my list dammit.

• 

  PUBG: Battlegrounds

  #2

  I don't care if it's Early Access.

  I don't really like online competitive shooters, or ARMA mods, or Day Z games or whathaveyou.

  PUBG is some of the best and worst times I've had playing games this year. I've mainly played Solo (really maybe only played 10 hours in Duos or Squads). I can't describe the terror I have felt when getting shot at from an unknown direction. I can't explain the elation that literally had me standing up at my desk and celebrating when I got my first chicken dinner.

  PUBG fever hit earlier this year, and it hit hard.

• 

  Super Mario Odyssey

  #1

  This is the first Mario game I have played since Mario 64. This is a game that I love jumping in an out of and feel like there is always something to do (suffice to say I have not gotten all of the moons yet).

  For me though, this is a personal favourite because of the experience I have had with it with my son. My son is 3 years old and earlier this year, we started 'playing' video games together. I got an SNES classic and got into the practice of playing while he had another controller (that is not connected) that he hits buttons on, so he feels involved. He enjoyed playing 'the monkey game' (Donkey Kong Country) for a bit, but bored of it.

  He loves Mario Odyssey. It does a really great job of making you feel rewarded when you get a moon. Our general practice is (he uses an Xbox controller), is that I will find a situation in which I earn a moon. Most of the time, when the moon pops out, it hovers above you. I count down 3, 2, 1 and tell him to his his "A" button. When he hits it, I make Mario jump and he gets the moon. I tell my son "Good job" and high five him and he goes nuts.

  Most evenings, after we've done reading and playing other (non video) games, he usually says that he wants to play Mario. When playing generally (again, not video games), he sometimes runs and jumps around collecting 'moons' and saying that he is Mario.

  Mario Odyssey is my favourite game of 2017