It is great to see my list featuring mostly Japanese developed games once more, people say every year "Japan is back!" but this is the year i really see it. I am also happy to see Nintendo really make the push this year with the Switch, like many others i have spent countless hours lost in some of the most polished and genre expanding titles and I am very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.
From the moment i took my first steps into this new version of Hyrule i knew Nintendo had created something truely special. Not only did they throw out everything we think of as a traditional Zelda game, they gave us a living, breathing world where literally anything can happen.
The newest entry to the Mario series is one of the most polished and exciting titles to launch this year. The game can easily be beaten in a few hours but as always the challange is finding all of the hidden moons and special coins and of course unlocking all of Mario's costumes. This is a game that is impossible to play without smiling and a testament to the power of Nintendo and its ability to continually make Mario games feel fresh and exciting.
NieR is at its heart another Platinum Games combo based action game which is never a bad thing, but set in a world with a deep and interesting lore. From the multiple endings encouraging multiple play throughs, to the in game vendor selling the ingame trophies, this is one game that plays us as much as we play it. The world is a beautiful nightmare with well designed characters, an incredible soundtrack and a story that continues to unwind hours after you first see the end credits.
Persona 5 takes the idea of style and weaves it into the narritive and gameplay in some truely intesting ways. The loading screens, the menu systems, everything is set up to be as visually pleasing as possible and underneath the hood is a truely solid role playing game that builds on the success of the previous entries with enough quality of life improvements to justify its place.
The expansion came out this summer and introduced an eastern themed continent complete with two new jobs, Samurai and Red Mage. The job systems have been given a new look and are now much easier to use (for better or worse). The two new Primals are a lot of fun to fight and of course the main story quest is as engaging as any single player adventure.
A suprisingly deep card based game featuring characters from all over the Dragonball universe including the original show, Z, GT and Super. As someone who spends nearly 5 hours a day travelling to and from work this is a god send allowing me to burn the hours of my commute. The game is laced with micro transactions but it never feels like you are forced to spend real money.
