briggs713

@zman8: I think sticking to the main quests would be fun. I was having a ton of fun at the beginning with the more linear story. As soon as I got in the open world, I found myself struggling with the controls more and more. I also don't really understand why I'm engaging in the side activities because I don't really know what it is in service of. It's not really fun and it doesn't feel like my character is improving in any way.

This exactly - I'm very tempted to just go back to AC:Origins (which I was in the middle of). But I just blew $90 CAD on this game and think I'm going to mainline it as much as possible. I can't think of a game in recent memory that controls as poorly as this.

Yeah, about the same story as you. I've dropped it completely now that God of War has come out. I really need to stop buying Ubisoft games. I did the same thing with AC: Origins. I really can't stand these huge open worlds anymore. Also, they really need to figure out the shared progress for coop. I was going to play it my wife until I found out how dumb it was.

Yeah, it's not a great game. Started it with two other friends expecting something like Castle Crashers. It's not a casual fun experience like that. It demands a lot of cooperation and the combat is just too skill based. The upgrades are very shallow as well. We got bored and played some Rocket League instead.

It's ok. I played it for ~5 hours on Friday. It's a really great concept with a lot of things tuned in not a great way. They put in a lot of skill based abilities and comboing, that works against a really hectic beat-em up formula. For example, the Fighter character has a parry, which is really difficult to pull off with lots of enemies around. Based on message boards, this seems like the key ability to make the Fighter viable. The progression is a little meager too. It more or less feels like I'm putting in points to keep up with the enemies. I don't really feel like I'm getting more powerful. There's equipment to change your play style, but not a ton of it. I was expecting Cellar Door's twist on Castle Crashers, but it's kinda too difficult to make it a social game with friends. If you're into a beat-em-up that requires a little more skill, it's probably up your alley.

What a great year in games. Jeff mentioned something I was thinking though - there were no shortage of amazing games but each of them had something that kept them from being perfect.

1. Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle : My game of the year had Mario in it, but it wasn't Odyssey. After being disappointed with XCOM 2 earlier in the year, this game came along and was amazing from start to finish. It's almost like an XCOM puzzle game in how a lot of the encounters are set up. It was a huge surprise that Ubisoft was making this game and the partnership did not disappoint. I'd love a sequel that expands the weapon system and makes the over world puzzle solving a bit more involved.
2. Battle Chasers: Nightwar: Heard about this on the DLC Podcast and decided to pick it up on sale. Realizing it was a western take on the JRPG by some of the people who made Darksiders sounded good to me. Fusing a dungeon crawler with a JRPG turned out to be an awesome idea. Also, the overcharge mechanic in combat is really neat (similar to Brave/Default system). I really thought I was over this genre when the last great JRPG game I played was Eternal Sonata (I would've said Bravely Default if it handled its late game better). This game has me excited and I'd happily fund a sequel (I went to their website to see if I could). Similar to Mario + Rabbids, I'd love if they give a little more attention to non-combat elements of the game.
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: This game has some serious problems with rewards. Eventide Island is actually the best encapsulation of this issue. I go through all that just for another part of a heart or stamina upgrade? Same experience with climbing Mount Hylia - just a shrine? How is that the same as beating a stupid robot a bunch of times? I mean I beat the game and finished every shrine so I guess I actually loved it too? It's awesome, but there needed to be a better carrot on the stick (maybe more traditional Zelda gear - I don't know). With the Switch's success, I bet there will be another one in this mold and I'll definitely play it.
4. Super Mario Odyssey: It's pure joy on the Switch. I love the reverence this game has for the old Mario games and it really makes this the best one yet. Capturing enemies was such a good idea as a gimmick for this game. I just want to keep listening to the New Donk City finale. It also has an end game that's really smart. It's the game I have the fewest complaints with this year, but the highs never reached the same highs as the games above.
5. Horizon Zero Dawn: Watching Danny's documentary made me appreciate this game a lot more. It's so cool this team was able to pivot to a game that was so different from their previous work in shooters. This game was Best Story for me this year - I actually think it's probably one of my favourite sci-fi stories in any medium. The story and world kept me going when the combat was leaving something to be desired. Moving into the desert area of this game really broke me and made me bee-line through this game. The combat is just zero fun after a while. Every fight with big machines started to feel like a bad Dark Souls boss fight with me circle dodging around hoping they'd die. Even when I set up traps and was exploiting the weaknesses, the fights still carried on way too long. It's an Assassin's Creed 1 situation - I can't wait for them to take the great foundation they built and make a masterpiece sequel.
6. Nioh: I needed more Dark Souls this year and I got it. This team put their own stamp on the sub-genre and I love the mission based structure. I think the stance and ki pulse systems were fantastic additions as well (having originally thought I was going to write those mechanics off). The gear/crafting system is a bit of a mess though. Those menus are way more complicated than they need to be. Still, it's great to have another team in the mix making more games like this.
7. Cuphead: Best style for me. They didn't just use the aesthetic and do nothing with it. They used it to great effect creating wonderful boss fights with super creative transitions between phases. It also scratches the "just one more time" itch of fighting bosses that Dark Souls gives me (I really got hung up on the Bee boss fight). I like the run and gun levels a lot and I wouldn't mind a sequel that throws in some more of those with the boss fights.
8. Divinity: Original Sin II: I thought this game would be #1 for sure (and probably really high on GOAT too). The updates to combat and leveling are so smart and make the game a joy to play. This is for me the best RPG combat and progression system ever made. The addition of magic and physical armor bars make melee classes way more viable while keeping the cool magic surfaces/effects from the first game. The only thing they didn't improve in this game is the story telling - in fact I think they made it worse. The branching choices made the second act feel like a mess by the time I was done - I could see it struggling to account for all the ways they allowed you to complete things. Also, I wish they would just tell a smaller story that wasn't so fantastical. It's a shame I started skipping what was some very nicely voiced dialogue. In the first game, I felt like I was on a cool detective mission to solve a murder and you step into a stupid portal at the inn and I rolled my eyes for every hour after that. Original Sin 2 has a similar moment a bit farther into the game - a point where I start skipping dialogue. I want everything this game does in a way more linear story (leave the branching solutions for side quests). Is it worth going back to finish this (I'm a bit after Act II)?
9. Pyre: 2nd coolest story this year. A very original and beautiful world with characters I loved chatting with. The basketball game they came up with is really great too. The characters felt different enough that the need to keep changing up my team throughout the story kept things fresh. Similar to Witcher 3, I can't think of a game that left me more satisfied with an ending that felt informed by my choices. As usual, Super Giant is a team that pays attention to every aspect of a game and makes it feel important. I can't wait to see what they do next. The drawback on this game would be the book on the cart. I really wish they used their top notch artists to animate it like a story book instead of giant walls of text. I just stopped reading it and focused on the character dialogue (I would've loved if it was voiced).
10. 20XX: This developer did a better job at recreating Mega Man than Mighty No. 9. It's a Mega Man X rogue-like with co-op. That's all I needed to play this game over and over for 25 hours this year. Plus I got to hear my co-op friends ask "how are they not getting sued for this?". The persistent upgrades from run to run are great and there's even some negative ones if you're up for a challenge. Unlike I've found in Mega Man's past, this game makes the weapons feel important outside of the bosses. I finally beat the game when I realized how critical some upgrades were to disabling traps. It's an amazing game that you should check out. The only thing I don't like are the character/enemy designs (cartoony in a bad way). I look forward to their next game.

@wandrecanada: Cool, I just bought all the Steamworld games (including Heist). I really enjoyed Steamworld Dig (1). Does 2 add a lot of upgrades and new stuff?

It was good enough. I found it had a lot of pacing issues i.e. too long between upgrades. I also didn't find the number and types of upgrades to be that compelling. The combat was fine just not much to it. I also played Ori and S&S this year and they were more enjoyable to me. S&S is very Dark Souls with some Metroidvania backtracking and navigating. Ori is very much a Metroidvania with some tough sections. Hollow Knight looks great, sounds great and controls great but just falls too far in the middle between a Metroidvania and Dark Souls. I wasn't really getting enough of either. I don't think it will make the top 10 for me. S&S might be #1 for me if it came out this year and Ori would be towards the top half of the list as well.

Divinity Original Sin II, Rabbids and Nioh will likely get little to not mention and they are all near the top for me.

K.Flay - Everywhere is Somewhere

Queens of the Stone Age - Villains (probably one of the best songs to kick off an album with 'Feet Don't Fail Me Now')

Not 2017 releases but I also picked up Group Love's Big Mess and 21 Pilots' Blurry Face and that is some of my favourite music in years.