It was quite a year for games, I didn't get to play everything that I wanted too this year but what I was able to get to sure was great. I have a feeling things would be different if I ended up getting a switch but I didn't pull that trigger. Maybe next year.
I enjoy a good dystopian future like most people, its fun to imagine what it might be like to experience such distressing situations and consider how you might react. Its an interesting thought exercise as alarming as the real thing would actually be, this might have been my initial attraction to the game. That in conjunction with the mechanized natural world really drew me in. Additionally I find open world games relaxing at times, and their checklist structure can be therapeutic for me.
Horizon is a very attractive game, the creature designs captivated me throughout the game and I was often excited to visit new areas to see what animals were going to be roaming about. The melding of mechanical organisms within an organic world was often breathtaking. Once you learn that you can dissemble the animals to hunt them effectively makes their design even more impressive. It was quite fun to isolate different components on the animals which caused different variations in how you brought the animal down. The tools you could use to bring down animals were also fun and varied, my favorites were traps and the anchored ropes. I found fighting the humans to be far less entertaining but it wasn't bad, just less interesting as it was more just about landing shots then strategy. I found the camera to be frustrating at times, it cost me my life here and there but it was tolerable for most of the game.
With all that said the reason this was my game of the year was because of the story, it was an interesting ride through a destroyed and semi-rebuilt world. I found myself thinking quite a lot about this world outside of playing it and became slightly fascinated with it during my time with the game. As I recall I put some of the plot together before it was revealed but it was a good drip feed of story as you pushed forward through the fractured world. It proved to wrap itself up pretty well and left me satisfied with the conclusion, no complaints that I can recall with its story telling.
Im a fan of the bizare, I like when things seem off, the uncanny valley and similar oddities fascinate me. Neir:Automata is a very weird game, and scrathes the same itch for me. Even after much reflection I'm still not entirely sure what I make of it. It certainly has a lot to say, but that may be up to your interpretation and willingness to look deeper at its story. I know I was left to ponder about what I thought and actually went online to read what others had interpreted just to get more perspective on the unique story and how it was presented.
Aside from an intriguing winding story, the game brings an interesting melding of action RPG and Bullethell like attacks and sequences. It was pretty traditional in its combat, not a very in depth system but it was fun enough to engage with the different enemies and their assorted attacks. The boss battles were particularly spectacular, bosses being enormous robots of different forms and with different moves and powers to remember. As repetitive as it may have been at times it was fun enough to get me all the way to the real ending, three play throughs later.
I also cant forget to mention the soundtrack, it was unique and fit the tone and story very well. It added to the bizarre moments of the game and created a lot of emotional weight to what was happening on screen. The artwork was also very well done, I enjoyed the robot and android designs. The vistas were also nice to look at, though maybe a bit empty, but it was an abandoned world so I suppose that's a passable item. Neir was a very unique experience, right down to the fact that you could buy all the trophies of the game for in-game currency once you completed it twice.
Growing up on the NES I'm no stranger to extreme difficulty in games, rarely did I beat a game as it required absolute perfection. I smashed my head against the likes of Mighty Bomb Jack, Ninja Gaiden and Mega Man, so I've certainly had my times with punishing video game requirements. Cuphead is difficult and has high expectations for its player, you need to get comfortable with the controls, recognize patterns and execute consistently to progress. Unlike some of its predecessors, Cuphead is extremely fair and when you make a mistake you typically know what you did wrong or what you failed to execute. I think the only misstep from a gameplay perspective was the addition of the platformer style levels, the developers should have stuck with the all boss formula.
Even more impressive then its tight gameplay is the amazing early cartoon aesthetic it has. I simply haven't seen anything like it, the animations and art work are perfectly reminiscent of the era of cartoons it portrays. Bringing it all together is a fantastic sound track and effects work that wrap the well thought out art direction. Cuphead's parts compliment one another to form a damn near perfect game from top to bottom.
Fortnite was my first Battle Royale game so it has a bit of a special place in my heart. I had been watching PUGB on Twitch and Giantbomb and couldn't run it on my PC. I had an itch to try anything in that format and finally Fortnite made its way onto Consoles. There really isn't anything quite like winning in a BR, its a hell of an adrenaline rush and I can remember my first win pretty vividly. It was in solo mode and I made a snipe for the win hiding on top of a tree, it felt really good. The only thing that comes close is a 1 vs 5 win in Counter-Strike or Rainbow Six Siege, the stakes are just larger.
It has a fun and colorful look and characters and environments are sharp and well designed. The characters are a bit generic but once Epic started to add in other universes and properties that started to matter less and less. I found the world and building design to be interesting and I liked watching the game develop from its starting map to what it had become by its first season or two. Sound design was enjoyable too, the sound effects were goofy but effective with information and I can still here the catchy jingle of the lobby. The gunplay was tight and had a variety of weapons to choose from, each fitting certain roles during a fire fight. The building created an interesting dynamic to fights and often the highest built point or man with the most disposable resources wins the day. You could still fight your way out of most situations if skilled enough, if you could build well and shoot you were untouchable.
I eventually fell off of Fortnite due to Epic focusing more on the building aspect and that was the mechanic I enjoyed least. Other offerings focused more on gin fights and mobility and I found that more my speed. I'm interested to see what the single player game will look like if ever finished, but it might be unlikely that ever happens given how much its other mode took off. Regardless of all of that Fortnite changed video games, it was a main stream success and everyone including your parents had heard of it. It is truly a phenomenon, and for the most part deserves all of its recognition.
I was extremely jealous my PC wouldn't run this game back when I had first heard about it so I had to settle for Fortnite on my console to get my battle royal fix. Once it hit console I, and about 15 of my friends jumped in and couldn't get enough, there was something so intensely satisfying about getting a chicken dinner. It was all my group of friends played for a long time and you could always expect to have a buddy online to play with.
The gameplay is thrilling, the long distant engagements are intense and require tactics and communication on a level that games don't normally require. The weapon variety is great and allows you to form a load-out that fits your play style. The gun play feels right in a realistic way and is very satisfying to land long and mid-range shots. Playing alone this game is intense and borderline scary, I could often only play a couple of rounds before the stress of it made me need a break. This game took my group of friends by storm and if it hadn't been for a variety of technical issues this game would have easily been my GOTY.
Slime rancher is one of the cutest games I have ever played. Management games have always drawn my attention so I knew right away this would be something I could get into. The map was fun to explore and discovering new biomes with new slimes to encounter and collect kept my attention for hours. Even after the end game there was plenty to do, automating my ranch and maximizing its efficiency kept me busy. Slime Rancher was a game that just made you happy to play.
Edith Finch is a visually stunning game, it has such a cool art style. I really enjoyed the short story format, jumping in and out of each characters personal tale was quite an enjoyable way to pace the game. Additionally each story felt unique and the gameplay complemented the uniqueness of each story. All though everyone told there own story the thread between them all was a nice touch and the ending proved to be worthwhile to see the whole experience through.
Ive always been a sucker for the franchise, its been such a mechanically sound shooter for so many years. A fan of both the multiplayer and the campaign. The HUB world was an interesting idea though I thought it was more in the way of then a traditional menu, it did have the interesting 1v1 section. Map variety was alright and had a couple standouts that I really enjoyed. The weapons are your traditional WWII era weapons and I thought what they did with attachments was smart for a time that really didn't have the attachment options modern era weaponry does.
For Honor was a game I was very unsure of at first, I tried the demo when it dropped and was instantly turned off after a round or two. When it released to relatively good reception I decided to give it another shot and was glad I did. The campaign was an enjoyable romp though it really served as more of a tutorial for the multiplayer. Multiplayer was very fun, it offered a couple modes though the mode with mobs was always my favorite and seemed the most dynamic. It also offered quite the variety of classes for different styles of play and was supported very well by the development team. This game was booted up all year long.
I didn't get to spend enough time with Flinthook, but what I did get to play hooked me pretty deep. From its charming pixel graphics and its frantic gameplay it was one of the best smaller experiences I had with video games in 2017.
