Games What I Liked and Enjoyed in the Year 2017
By satchamobob 0 Comments
Congratulations everyone! We made it through 2017 (and also one week of 2018)! I’ve marked the occasion once again by writing about the games that stood out to me the most over the past year. It’s safe to say 2017 was, at the very least, an amazing year for games. Which is partially why the list is so late this year. Turns out I had a lot to say about these games. With that, please read on for my highly subjective list of good games from 2017.
The List of 10
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Very early on in my Zelda playthrough, I found myself heading towards a collection of ruins just near the cave Link wakes up in. Night was falling and I was warned of traveling in the dark, lest I be attacked by dangerous monsters. Taking heed, I made my way to the ruins. As I approached, a familiar name appeared on screen: Temple of Time. A soft, familiar piano melody began to play. Walking into the center of the temple ruins, I suddenly felt the need to stop and take everything in. What I was seeing, what I was hearing, where I was in both the physical and digital space. It was a quiet moment of reflection that I carried with me throughout the rest of my time with Breath of the Wild.
It was also a moment of endless possibility. I had no idea what adventures lie ahead of me. I didn’t know that in a few hours, while attempting to befriend a bear in the forest, I’d accidentally awaken a giant skeleton ogre. I had no idea that, while fighting a mob of enemies during a thunderstorm, I’d accidentally throw my sword at them, only to have lightning strike the weapon and destroy the surrounding mobs. I did not know that I’d spend hours lost in the snowy Hebra Mountains, stumbling upon Sheikah shrine after Sheikah shrine. Or that on Satori Mountain, there’s a pond with a cherry tree, and if you visit that pond on a night when the mountain glows, you’ll find The Lord of the Mountain. Or that the distant island I was heading towards on my raft was this mysterious Eventide Island I’d heard so much about. Hyrule was out there, just waiting for me.
But at this moment, all I wanted to do was watch the world go by. So that’s what I did. I sat there in the ruins of the temple. Watching the sunrise. Listening to the music. I had not done anything like that in a game since...well, since Majora’s Mask probably.
Breath of the Wild captivated me like no other Zelda game has. It might be my favorite Zelda game since Ocarina of Time, and I do not make that statement lightly. Every mountain, every forest, every island, every village, every desert held the potential for surprise, for discovery. Provided the weather didn’t screw up your mountain climb, of course. It is a game that I never grew tired of exploring, of experimenting with, of just being there in that world. As other critics have more eloquently put it, there is always distance to be traveled in Breath of the Wild. I relish the opportunity to travel that distance.
NieR: Automata
I have been unable to stop thinking about Nier: Automata since I finished it.
Trying to externalize my thoughts on Nier without spoiling what happens feels like a Sisyphean task. By the time I finished what’s considered Route A of Nier’s story and started Route B, all my expectations for where this game was going were thrown out the window. Nier: Automata had its hooks deep into me, and no other game from 2017 affected me on such a personal and emotional level.
What makes Nier work is not just the story, or the characters, or the themes, but how all of these individual pieces unfold and build throughout the game. Nier is a game that has a lot to say about the human condition, about our cyclical history of violence and hatred, about how we try to connect to one another despite our continued failure at doing so. And even though these themes are by no means unique, the way they emanate throughout the entire game and drive the narrative forward makes the experience of playing the game so special. Being an interactive work is so vital to Nier’s narrative and the ideas it wants to explore. In some ways, the game is structured like classical theater, and I’m not just saying that because there’s a scene in this game where robots reenact Romeo and Juliet. This is all a lot of words to say that playing Nier: Automata is an unforgettable experience.
Nier is not going to be for everyone. While I appreciate how customizable the combat mechanics are, it’s still pretty shallow given Platinum’s pedigree. And let’s be honest, playing the game through all five story endings is asking for a huge time commitment from players. I completely understand how people might be turned off by Nier. But when all is said and done, I never felt like Nier was wasting my time. From the character arcs of 2B, 9S, and friends, to the barren war-torn environments, to the way the game’s side quests feed into the larger story, Nier: Automata is a sight to behold. It’s a beautiful, perplexing, off-kilter, funny, tragic, melodramatic, hopeful game and I’m incredibly thankful I took the time to experience it. I’ll be thinking about Nier: Automata for a long time.
Addendum: ALSO NIER: AUTOMATA HAS ONE OF THE BEST SOUNDTRACKS OF ALL TIME AND I CAN’T BELIEVE I ALMOST FORGOT TO MENTION THAT SERIOUSLY THE SOUNDTRACK’S BEEN PLAYING WHILE I WRITE THIS GET IT TOGETHER COLIN.
Super Mario Odyssey
Joy. Joy is the most succinct way I can explain my time with Super Mario Odyssey. Every time I played this game, the biggest grin spread across my face. Playing Mario Odyssey just feels good.
For me, a lot of this comes down to Odyssey’s world design and movement. Each world is silly and colorful in its own unique way, but more importantly feels like a fully realized space. In addition, the game evokes little bits of Mario nostalgia throughout the entire game in a way that feels less like pandering and more like a celebration of everything Mario. As a result, exploring Mario’s worlds and uncovering new moons feels organic and freeform. I can’t count how many times I’d stumble on a new moon simply through exploration and experimentation. I never felt like I was simply checking off moons from an NPC’s todo list. To top it all off, moving in Mario Odyssey is superb. Controlling Mario is snappy and responsive, and the Cappy mechanic adds an extra layer of depth and execution to the proceedings. I honestly can’t wait to see what a Mario Odyssey speedrun looks like.
More than any other game this year, Super Mario Odyssey bubbles with personality and creative spirit. From its excellent design to its captivating worlds (New Donk City might be my new favorite Mario level ever), Mario Odyssey was a game that just made me happy whenever I played it. An incredibly bright spot in a year that desperately needed those.
Heat Signature
Heat Signature is great because it follows that “best laid plans” style of gameplay where the excitement comes from watching the game’s multiple systems interact in unexpected and usually hilarious ways. The progression of the game, undertaking procedurally generated missions for procedurally generated characters until they die/get captured/achieve their personal mission means that no two missions will play out the same way. In fact, most of the time your item loadout will make you wonder how exactly you’re supposed to kill the armored guard when you have no armor piercing weapons? And did I mention this all takes place in space?
It’s this ambiguity that, much like last year’s amazing Hitman, really allows Heat Signature to shine. No matter how well you plan your mission, there’s always the chance everything will come crashing down on you and you’ll be forced to improvised. That moment with the armored enemies I alluded to earlier? I succeeded that mission by firing a grenade into an explosives filled room as my target followed me in there. This destroyed the entire room (along with my target), but also blocked off the way to my escape pod. With moments to spare, and guards quickly making their way towards my location, I jumped out of the newly formed hole in the side of the ship and into the blackness of space. From there, I quickly remote controlled my ship to my body seconds before I died of oxygen deprivation.
And I have so many stories like this, some way more outlandish. Hell, I considered just copying and pasting all the conversations I’ve had with a friend of all of our increasingly hilarious shenanigans in the game and calling that my review. Heat Signature is a wonderful game that keeps on giving by letting its players find their own way through impossible situations.
Destiny 2
Guilty admission time: I haven’t really played a Bungie shooter since Halo 3. I never picked up ODST and I only played the first couple of missions in Halo Reach. I completely skipped the first Destiny mostly due to a lack of interest at the time. But there was enough positive buzz around Destiny 2 (and enough friends preordering the PC port) to convince me to give the game a shot. Totally worth it.
Playing Destiny 2 satisfied a number of long forgotten itches for me. As with Bungie’s previous works, the shooting in Destiny 2 is the star of the show. Each gun feels unique and shooting is crisp and responsive. Not only that, but the loot drop system always ensures your playstyle is changing and evolving through the entire level progression. When you finally reach end game and start solidifying your playstyle, Destinty 2 offers a plethora of customizable options to fit your needs. Even as the end game content trailed off, the core loop was strong enough to keep me playing on an almost daily basis.
More surprisingly, Destiny 2 became my go-to chillout game for a while. Something about the MMO grind relaxes me, and Destiny 2’s weekly quests helped with that aplenty. Having a circle of friends and an active guild to constantly play with didn’t hurt either. As a result, Destiny 2 was probably the multiplayer game I played the most of this year. My interest in the game has waned ever so slightly, but ultimately Destiny 2 was the Bungie reunion I never knew I needed.
Night in the Woods
There’s a realness to Night in the Woods that hit a little closer to home than I had anticipated. Ostensibly about a college dropout returning to her working-class town amidst spooky occurrences, Night in the Woods is a game about emotional vulnerability. Upon returning home Mae, the game’s protagonist, struggles to figure out what to do with her life while simultaneously dealing with mental illness. Most of the game’s story plays out through vignettes of Mae spending time with her old friends. Yet even though these vignettes are expertly written and offer comfort in their portrayal of small-town life, they also highlight the fact that life continues apace, even when you’re not there. Mae’s friends have moved on with their lives in her absence, and her once prosperous town is in much dire straits. None of this helps Mae’s sense of being stuck in a rut and it causes some severe schisms between her, her friends and her family. In that sense, I can’t help but empathize with Mae. I know what that feels like, more than I’d like to admit.
That’s why Night in the Woods works as well as it does. Throughout its story, Night in the Woods is honest about the way we struggle with our personal miseries and anxieties. It does not offer empty platitudes or tell us to look at the bright side. Rather, it acknowledges that our relationships with one another are susceptible to damage, and that rebuilding those relationships takes work. It’s a game that stresses the importance of solidarity, that we need others to make it through this life. This emotional honesty is core to the game’s philosophy, making the proceedings feel wholly genuine and real. Night in the Woods was the first game I fell in love with in 2017, and it’s the type of game I feel we need more of at this moment in time.
Pyre
Never before has esports looked so beautiful. Following in the footsteps of Supergiant’s previous work, Pyre is an absolute masterclass in art, sound, and world building. From the moment I first met my initial traveling party, I was all in on Pyre’s world. Each character exudes personality, and everyone’s individual backstories do an excellent job of fleshing out each NPC's desires, as well as the Downside itself. As my party grew, so too did my relationships with every member. Every instance of wizard basketball lead to learning more about these people, their unspoken histories, and the world that they all lived in. However, every game of wizard basketball also brought my teammates closer to redemption, forcing me as a player to give up those bonds of friendship for the sake of my party members. It’s a meaningful choice, one that wouldn’t work half as well if Pyre’s characters weren’t so well written. Not to mention, the wizard basketball part of the game is really fun and surprisingly deep once you start mastering its fundamentals.
Backed by Jen Zee’s luscious visuals and Darren Korb’s evocative soundtrack, Pyre contains one of the most lived in worlds of this year. Everyone should go play Pyre, but if you tell Rukey to shave his mustache, we are no longer friends you horrible, awful person.
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds
By all accounts I should not like PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds. When I first saw the game in early access, nothing about it appealed to me. Visually, the game has the same flat “real” aesthetic as DayZ, H1Z1 and all the other offshoots made in the image of ARMA. The combat looked terribly dry and janky, while the UI was a mess. I was ready to write the game off as simply Not For Me. Then I started watching people stream the game. Which led to me finally purchasing the game.
Two elements of PUBG stand out to me. The first is the relentlessly tense nature of play. When you’re alone on a island with 100 other players, only then do you recognize how terrifying the overall scope and size of the game is. Death can come from any direction on such a huge, open map. The rapidly shrinking circle of survivable terrain means you can’t just spend all game hiding in a bathtub. You need to be constantly putting yourself at risk if you want to win. The way PUBG forces this tension on its players makes the experience so rewarding when you find yourself on the winning side of a skirmish.
Conversely, you have squad play, which involves you and up to 3 other friends causing havoc across the map until someone starts firing on your squad. It was watching these shenanigans on livestreams that really sold the game for me. One moment the game is a joyous romp across the map, the next everyone switches to super serious tactics mode until any sense of danger passes. The brilliance of PUBG is that there’s always a sense of danger.
Even if it’s still rough around the edges, the core loop of Battlegrounds is so strong, and the recent inclusion of a second map means I probably won't be quitting PUBG any time soon. I still have a chicken dinner to win, after all.
I’m so very, very close.
Doki Doki Literature Club
Doki Doki Literature Club isn’t the most original game I’ve played. Most of its tricks have been done before, such as in the excellent IMSCARED. That said, it’s the way in which Doki Doki executes on those tricks that makes the game so engaging. Starting as a generic anime dating sim, Doki Doki slowly begins to subvert your expectations, until you start seeing the characters underneath all the tropes. Only then, once you’ve had a chance to learn more about each character does the game pull the rug out from under you. Suddenly those cute little character quirks evolve into something much more alarming. As you progress, the game turns into both a condemnation and, ultimately, a reaffirmation of the storytelling devices many VNs employ. And like IMSCARED, the story unravels in a way that could only happen in a video game.
I’d say more, but I’m worried I’ve spoiled too much already . Regardless, Doki Doki Literature Club is a memorable game that left a strong impression on me. And by “left a strong impression” I mean I had trouble sleeping that night. Give the game a shot if you have an evening free. Just...make sure to take the content warning at the beginning of the game seriously.
Cuphead
I’m going to be honest: I don’t think Cuphead fully earns its difficulty. I think this stems from a number of factors, including a bad tutorial (yes, really), an occasional lack of player feedback, and a parry mechanic that is both extraneous and colorblind unfriendly.
Did these issues affect my enjoyment of the game? Yes. Did I still really enjoy Cuphead? Also yes. Mostly. When Cuphead is firing on all cylinders, it’s a master class in run n gun game design. The artwork absolutely carries the game, and when paired with an outstanding original soundtrack (MORE JAZZ IN VIDEO GAMES PLEASE), Cuphead nails the feeling of 1930s cartoons. The art also lends itself to some inventive boss battles, giving each boss unexpected and gorgeous transformations, providing a great sense of challenge and progression for the player. Some boss fights even feel like a complete short story thanks in part to the interplay between the game’s art and progression. Wanting to see what came next kept me coming back for more in spite of some of the problems I ran into elsewhere in the game. An absolutely outstanding visual achievement, Cuphead succeeds in spite of its flaws.
Games That Didn’t Make the List, but Deserve an Honorable Mention
Persona 5
I’ve loved the time I’ve spent with Persona 5 so far, mostly thanks to its strong aesthetic style and killer soundtrack. Seriously, this game has my favorite menus ever. That said, I’ve only made it through the first dungeon, and while I’ve loved the combat and the characters, hearing the middling opinions of where the game goes in its second half tempered my excitement for the game. I still plan on seeing this one through to the end though.
Splatoon 2
Splatoon 2 is more Splatoon! This is a great and wonderful thing! The new maps and weapons are fun! Salmon Run is a great addition! And it’s all on a system with a much larger player base! Seriously, Splatoon 2 is a fantastic game that I keep coming back to. Just not as much as some other games on this list.
Sonic Mania
Easily the best Sonic game in years, Sonic Mania reminds everyone of all the stuff that worked about older Sonic while adding just the right amount of new tricks and surprises to make things feel fresh. Some of the later worlds and bosses drag a bit, but overall a pleasant experience, especially on the Switch. Also I can’t get enough of that animated intro.
The End is Nigh
Edumund McMillen and Tyler Glaiel’s new platformer feels like an alternate universe Meat Boy at times. Rather than rely heavily on reaction times, The End is Nigh is much more methodical, requiring players to commit to their movements and jumps. It’s an interesting take on McMillen’s previous work, but I admittedly fell off of it pretty early in. I’d still highly recommend it though.
Fire Pro Wrestling World
Fire Pro is miles ahead of any other wrestling game in recent memory. That said, it’s major selling point is less the game’s actual wrestling mechanics and more the intimidating depth of its character creator. And with Steam Workshop support built in, I will never get tired of watching CPU wrestlers battle it out for fake wrestling supremacy.
Getting Over it with Bennett Foddy
I love this game. I hate this game. This game is very meditative and zen. This game fills me with frustration and melancholy. Bennett Foddy’s voice and observations about game design are soothing and thoughtful. Bennett Foddy is a jerk who makes games designed to hurt people. I will get over it. I am not yet over it.
Star Fox 2
For being a cancelled sequel to Star Fox, Star Fox 2 sure is a neat little thought experiment, but I think I like the idea of the game more than playing it. This is mostly here to celebrate the fact that this game somehow received an official release from Nintendo in the year of our lord 2017. And preserving game history is always worth celebrating.
Night Trap
Night Trap is a bad game. Its mechanics are confusing, the difficulty unforgiving, and if you want to be good at the game, you have to completely ignore what’s happening in the story. The only reason this game received a 2017 anniversary release is because of the unwarranted infamy it gained during the US Senate hearings on violent video games in the early 90s. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have at least one entertaining night of drinking and playing this game with a group of friends. Like I said, preserving game history is always worth celebrating (I’m beginning to reconsider that).
Rez Infinite (again)
A new port of Rez Infinite came out for PC this year! And it’s still an amazing game! And Area X is still the most beautiful, transcendent VR experience on the market! Go play it already!
Undertale (again?)
A new port of Undertale came out for PS4 this year! And it’s still an amazing game despite the fact you have to use a d-pad instead of arrow keys! And this is beginning to sound awfully familiar...Go play it already!
Bloodborne (...again)
I’m beginning to see a pattern here. Anyways, I finally finished Bloodborne this year, and that game is still really good y’all. The combat system is top notch, and I still really love the setting and the enemy design. Bloodborne also has the best DLC of any Souls game, period. Go play it already!
Games I Still Need to Play
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
And This Other Stuff
Pro Wrestling Match of the Year: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Kenny Omega - IWGP Heavyweight Championship - Wrestle Kingdom 11
The year was not kind to WWE fans. Unless you exclusively watch tag matches, most of WWE’s output this year disappointed. Whether it was bad matches (almost anything with Bray Wyatt or Randy Orton in it), terrible storylines (Jason Jordan revealed as Kurt Angle’s son), or mishandled wrestlers (HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU SCREW UP BAYLEY?), there was a lot more bad than good in WWE this year, and that’s saying something.
Thankfully 2017 did have some spectacular wrestling outside of WWE, and a lot of it came from New Japan Pro Wrestling. In fact, it took all of 4 days into 2017 for NJPW to produce not only the best match of the year, but the first in a trilogy of matches that could’ve all easily taken this spot. While both Okada/Omega II and III are incredible must-see matches in their own right, the first of their bouts is the one that stayed with me the longest. Maybe it was because it was the first time I ever paid attention to NJPW before, or maybe it was because I made the (right) choice to stay up until 4am to watch a live wrestling show, but Okada/Omega I was a revelation. Each wrestler oozed charisma and moved with such purpose in the ring. It was unlike any match I had seen before. Between the constant back and forth of counters and crazy table spots and near falls, this match reminded me why I re-fell in love with wrestling in the first place. Absolutely a classic from start to finish.
As of this writing, Wrestle Kingdom 12 is about an hour away from starting. Okada/Omega I was so good it convinced me to shell out money for this year’s event. In fact, NJPW had such a fantastic 2017, I’m even considering canceling my WWE Network subscription. I can only hope this show is just as good as last year’s (SPOILERS: IT TOTALLY WAS).
Best non-Giant Bomb related Podcast: The Adventure Zone (again?!)
I thought about giving this to another podcast, I really did. I almost gave it to S-Town, a podcast I binge listened(?) to for a month after it released. But if I’m being perfectly honest, this category belongs to The Adventure Zone. After falling in love with it in 2016, I continued listening to as many episodes as I could given all the other podcasts I keep in my RSS feed. Needless to say, The Adventure Zone just keeps getting better. Listening to the McElroys develop their characters and their style of storytelling has been a treat, and has led to some genuinely moving moments. I’m STILL not done with the series (only just started The Eleventh Hour), but TAZ still takes up most of my podcasting time.
You should also go listen to S-Town though. It’s really good.
Coolest game I found in Japan: Dance Rush
This year, I achieved a life long goal and visited Japan for the first time. It was an incredible two week experience that will stay with me for a lifetime. Naturally while I was there I spent some time in some of the arcades found in Akihabara and Nipponbashi. There were so many games I had never seen before from anime fighters to card battling games. But it wasn’t until the last night of my trip that I found Dance Rush. The game is essentially an evolution of DDR, replacing the arrow pads with a super flashy LED pad that lets players move around in all directions. It looked really cool, and I was totally going to play it, but the person in front of me was really good and started drawing a crowd. Needless to say, I was too chicken to play after that. I will play Dance Rush one day though. Even if I have to fly back to Japan to do it!
Did I mention the game has a super sweet remix of BUTTERFLY?
Best Fever Dream of 2017: Mouth Moods
I will never forget the night Neil Cicierega dropped his latest mashup album Mouth Moods. For one night, all of Twitter took part in an impromptu listening party, laughing, crying, and cringing at the auditory insanity we were subjecting ourselves to. At one point, I was talking to a friend online and mid-IM they interrupted their thought to say “I got to the last song. Colin, I’m so sorry.” That was all I needed to inadvertently scream “NO” in my living room (it was a clever use of the Kiss From a Rose intro if you care about such things). All in all, it was one of the more memorable Mondays of 2017 and reinforced Neil C’s status as a mad genius of internet culture.
Obligatory Shoutout Award 2017: Games and Playable Media, UC Santa Cruz
It’s been a busy 2017 for the Games and Playable Media program. This year saw our program grow to our biggest cohort yet and we couldn’t be more excited. Multiple student games showcased at this year’s E3, with project CTRL.SHIFT being singled out by Ars Technica as one of the top 10 games to watch for after the expo. Student game Phantom Jump made it’s official release on Steam, a first for the undergraduate side of our program. Finally, our program was featured on Waypoint as part of their Waypoint Presents documentary series! Shoutouts to Austin Walker and the crew for doing such an incredible job. As always, here’s to an exciting 2018!