Best Games of 1997
The year when PlayStation established itself with some excellent entries from past Nintendo franchises (Final Fantasy, Castlevania). However, the year on the whole would pale in comparison to the year to follow.
List items
-
Our protagonist is a member of a terrorist organization desiring to overthrow a mega-corporation for its abuse of the environment. To say this plot was edgy is an understatement. Where Terranigma tried get you to love the world before showing its faults and while Chrono Trigger's impending Lavos cataclysm could be seen as an allegory for an environmental threat that destroys life on Earth, FF7 took this pro-environment, anti-corporation message to the next level. FF7 did so with ambitious CG cutscenes, beautifully designed backdrops your character walked in, and camera shots that were artistically creative and unique compared to the static over-the-shoulder camera we see in just about every video game today. FF7 had its faults, sure, but it was engaging, constantly combative with its audience (making you commit acts of terror, discussing class warfare, killing a playable character), and had the best and longest prologue (all of Midgar) a JRPG has ever seen.
-
I would play this game later in life and I can't get over how fluid it played, even at such an early age for PC games. Also, the story was dark enough to win over every metal head and high school drug user I knew so kudos to Diablo for making PC games cool.
-
Sure, there were some janky aspects to Fallout but this was an incredible story in a world that felt real even though the game was set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. What an incredible accomplishment and it's easy to see why future Fallout games continued to go back to the well (see what I did there?) with essentially the same themes and ideas established by the first game.
-
Not as dark or as good as Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together. The development team that moved from that game to FF Tactics did an admirable job replicating their previous classic, with Final Fantasy flair.
-
Star Wars games were, on the whole, pretty good. The arcade game in the 80's, the trilogy arcade game in the 90's, TIE Fighter/X-Wing, and the Super Star Wars games were all good to excellent. Dark Forces II was an adventure in 3D shooters and was largely successful. It obviously looks dated now but it was a fun adventure to feel like you were actually swinging a lightsaber.
-
A great control scheme made for an enjoyable, relaxing game. Right on!
-
The fluidity of movement accomplished by this game was remarkable and compared to everything else 3D at the time, was above and beyond what anyone else had to offer. Damage was big, matches were fast, and those counters were fierce. That soundtracked kicked, too. Tekken at its best.
-
An improvement on the original and a must-play when you got to the arcade. Sure, it ate quarters like crazy but playing one of the only cover shooters in the 90's felt like a great change of pace.
-
Weird, quirky, and charming.
-
I'm still baffled by the praise this game receives. The castle looks like a primitive 80's PC in a few places, the character movement is sluggish, the powers a little too gamebreaking, and the upside down castle is awful to play. Hardly the pinnacle of this genre despite all of the masturbatory Castlevania apologists who still think Rondo of Blood is a gift divined from the heavens.
-
I bounced off this game several times. It's a rough, slow start finding bullshit weapons for a bully to start the game and escorting your shrieking surrogate sister around a town that looked fine but nowhere near the beautiful backdrops of Midgar. Once you get past the beginning, you start to get invested in the good-natured, FUN attitude of the game. There's no grime here - just a thrilling pursuit of adventure.
The best part was when an early adversary announces how much fun he had going toe-to-toe with the main character and admired his tenacity, without doing so in a demeaning or snarky way. It was refreshing compared to the darkness of many games today. That said, too many deus ex machinas for me to regard this one any higher up the list. At least Grandia got its story going a few hours in, unlike Breath of Fire 3.
As an aside, BoF 3 had one of the best first five minutes in a JRPG and threw it away with a lame story and a horrible rate of random encounters for the next 6-8 hours. Only the unicorn bros saved that game.
-
Not as funny or memorable as the first 2. It seemed to lose that verve of endearing sarcasm for plain goofiness.
-
Memorable for introducing console players to multiplayer shooters but the game is not really as great as you remember.
-
The last "spectacle" of 90's arcade games prior to DDR. The game was just too unfair, though, and ate quarters religiously.
-
An underrated racer - Diddy Kong Racing knew not to take itself too serious, had fun, and just felt great to drive around and cause mayhem.
-
Like every LEGO game, I kept hoping this game was better than it was while playing it.
Load Comments