Best of 2017
My Game Of The Year 2017 article is available on GoPlayThat.
List items
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PUBG is the realization of my many competitive shooter fantasies, a vice I’ve wished to feed since my Xbox Live clan days from 10 years past. At first glance I dismissed it as another Arma mod I’d never get into, but after my first play of it on a borrowed copy from Hush, I fell for it. It speaks to my soul.
It is the ultimate thrill in online gaming, and it takes my Game Of The Year 2017 top spot because the emotion it draws from me is unparalleled. My journey from discovery and personal improvement to that first chicken dinner, to that first self-earned chicken dinner, to the many that eventually followed as I felt command over the island of Erangel and the game's set of weapons, with the group of duo and squad mates I evolved with along the way… The heart pumping thrill of a final zone showdown, and the satisfaction of a hard fought or lucky victory, cannot be beaten.
I far prefer duo and squad play over solo, but there are differences amongst all three match types that I love. What draws me to the team stuff is the teamwork, the feeling of working together as a unit to best other groups that are doing the same, the need to communicate, plan, and have each others’ backs. This game is the ultimate in emergent storytelling, generating ridiculous stories to share with every session. No game before it has led me to record every match on video, so that I can share and relive every win.
As my abilities with the game developed, so did the game. Being there from week 1, scrabbling through patch notes and clawing over every minute detail, gleefully sharing the excitement with the group on Discord, it's something I've never done before but imagine MMO players do all the time. I don't care about the downsides of playing an early access game; The problems along the way, from crashes to downtime, pale in comparison to the raw emotional power of its last man/team standing coupled with watching the game evolve underneath my feet.
2016 and 2017 have really gotten me back into online multiplayer. Overwatch, Battlegrounds, Fortnite and most recently GTA Online have had me online almost daily, and with a group to boot. I have 163 hours on record with PUBG, and it took over 2 months for me to win my first match, such are the odds and variables in play. I’ve not spent more than an hour with the second map, Miramar, and the vaulting that both come as part of the 1.0 PC version, but I immediately got that sense of wonder and tension from getting dropped into new locations, and the idea of entering and exiting buildings without having to use the doors sends my mind racing as I comprehend the tactics we might get to use.
Of all of the games on my list, PUBG is the first one that comes to mind when I think about getting back online in 2018.
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Deciding to play Danganronpa was one of my best personal choices ever. This series is incredible. For the uninitiated, Danganronpa places you as a high school student trapped inside the school, and told that you'll only get to leave if you kill a fellow classmate and get away with it. Once a murder occurs, a period of time is allowed to investigate, followed by a class trial where the group must work out 'whodunnit', or else fail and be punished by death. It's a visual novel, so very story-heavy but with a lot of agency and interactivity to get into.
Much like 2, Danganronpa V3 gets to play with the fact that you will have played the previous entries, leading to moments where my expectations were used to deliver heart-thumping twists, turns and revelations. Once again, I loved all of the characters (the monokubs are a fun new cast of antagonists), and got heavily invested in the story. This series, for me, is the definition of a page turner in videogame form.
I'd say all told, my favourite is still 2, but that should not put any series fans off. For those that might have put the series off, or are only hearing about it now, I urge you to get on it now. It's difficult to talk details without giving much away, even down to sharing screenshots, so you'll just have to trust me!
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So, first up if it wasn't clear, I'm talking about Fortnite Battle Royale here. Fortnite's Save The World wave-based survival story mode is alright, but it's not the draw. What's kept me playing for countless hours is that Battle Royale mode, and it's been a big success in my eyes because it feels rock solid to play, Epic shrewdly converting their polished but unfinished mechanics to take advantage of the surprise success of Battlegrounds, and the construction/destruction gameplay offers a compelling alternative that has led to me finding space in my life for both games. Winning matches through crafting stairways around the enemy is so, so gratifying, as is taking down a group that thinks their fortress is enough to keep them safe.
The early access support has been incredible, with a ton of playful experimentation taking place including new gear and weapons, and limited time modes that are poking around with the battle royale concept. Fortnite is a deserving alternative and a far better fit on console (so far), a worthy and brilliant multiplayer release that I'm glad I gave a chance.
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Breath of the Wild is brave. I felt such incredible freedom during my playthrough, discovering Hyrule's environment dangers and rules for myself, choosing where to explore, marking my own destinations from atop the world's towers, and completing shrines using what felt like my own, unconventional tactics. As a result, it felt like a personal journey of discovery. I agree with critics of the game's core story and the four main dungeons, but their relative weakness is dwarfed by the time I spent in the open world and in the many, many shrines. I defeated Calamity Ganon with all four of the Divine Beasts tamed, but never retrieved the Master Sword, and according to the Hero's Path addition from the expansion pass, neglected to visit several locations. With those to check out, and the expansion's content to dig into, I'll be making a return and look forward to carving my own path once again.
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Splatoon 2 is better than the Wii U original, and honestly there wasn’t much more that I needed to be onboard with it, spending hours at a time passing the controller back and forth with my girlfriend, who's equally passionate about it. I love the J-punk style and the core concept of a shooter that isn’t about kills but about map control, with sweet new weapons and levels thrown in. I sometimes wonder if the game would be better by handling itself in a more traditional manner, instead of doing crazy stuff like gating each mode to a 2-map rotation for 2 hours at a time. Then again, its uniqueness in all regards is what defines it and makes it special, so I'll take the rough with the smooth.
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This one was a very pleasant surprise for me late in the year, I took the plunge based on some very strong recommendations from the guys at Giant Bomb and the fact that I was on Christmas holiday with my Switch. I instantly fell in love with its perfect blend of looking, sounding and playing great, and always offering up new areas to explore and challenges to overcome, with a respec-able skill tree to experiment with. It’s great on the Switch as both a small and big screen game, and it has been keeping me on its hook ever since I started with its awesome sense of flow and discovery, offering something new to tease you with at all times.
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Persona 5 had already earned its place high on my 2017 list long before my PUBG addiction replaced it as my daily obsession. I love its style maybe more than any other aspect; Just hanging out inside the game is enjoyable because it takes place around Shibuya and the soundtrack prominently features some filthy funky bass guitar. The core battle system feels satisfying, and I enjoyed balancing my time between getting things done in the real world and making enough progress in the dreamlike dungeons to succeed before it's too late. I find myself thinking about Persona 5 a lot.
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The New Colossus is a trip, an incredible journey with ridiculous moments and setpieces, and at least a few occasions that had me slack-jawed at the game’s audacity. I recommend experiencing it. It’s a shame that a lot of the gameplay itself doesn’t match that high standard, because if it had then I’d be ranking this way further up my list. The stealth mechanics don’t work well and the level design doesn’t seem to allow for successful circumvention of combat, which in itself pales in comparison to last year’s DOOM. The difficulty just seems off; I never dropped it down to the easiest option, but from what I’ve discussed with friends it seems like that would have been the best way to go, which is absurd because I look for challenge from shooters as much as anything else.
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I felt like I might have played this game wrong. I moved from world to world as soon as I had the minimum needed number of moons, and as a result had a pretty easy time with it because the game is saturated with them. I also haven’t returned to it since completing the baseline story, but I know for sure that I’ve only really scratched the surface of it. I didn’t fall in love with it and some of the worlds seemed pretty lame - sorry, but I really didn’t like New Donk City from what I played - but that’s not to say it didn’t have me smiling, usually when capturing a creature with a really cool ability. I don’t know if my misgivings with my time with it are my fault, or if the game’s structure failed to show me its best bits. Either way, I’m looking forward to digging deeper and needing to learn some of the more advanced platforming techniques.
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Cuphead’s a very impressive achievement, the MDHR brothers totally nailed the aesthetic and the resulting game is a sweet arcadey boss rush that I’ve enjoyed working my way through, one quick restart at a time. A bunch of the bosses seem damn near insurmountable on first attempt, but the learning process is fun; Taking newly obtained knowledge from each failure through to the next attempt until I reach the boss’ final transformation and scrape my way to victory. It’s a great fit for shorter play sessions, definitely take a break when you find yourself stuck on a level and come back later with renewed energy to get 'er done.
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