2017 was a year that was to be much worse than it actually ended up being, and for that I am grateful. More to the point of this forum, the year 2017 in video games was much better than it was already predicted to be.
I've had some tough choices to make in these lists over the years, but there was already a "tier list" of a kind sorting the lists out with certainty. Not this time. This year is an embarrassment of riches.
One of the difficulties of describing the strengths of the Trails series is due to one of those strengths being its subtlety; the way the series so deftly shows by telling its themes, characterization, and plot arcs after showing them off in plain sight for hours, even thru entire games. And that gentle confidance in their skill, something that is so difficult to elaborate upon without spending half and hour spoiling all the best parts of the series, is what sets The 3rd apart in a momentous year for quality as the best Trails game I've played, and the best game I've played this year.
"So. Show of hands: which one of you assholes wants my sword in their face first?!?"
Coming after the events of TitS:FC and TitS:SC have quietened down, The 3rd picks up in the aftermath of that adventure, serving as a coda for many of the characters we came to know from those, a self-contained story of redemption thru eerily-familiar territory, and many, many bridges to future games following the trails of plot and intrigue to other lands, all thru a very odd-for-this-series dungeon-crawler format. Yet for all the juggling of dozens of characters, background on or glimpses into the future bridging to the Crossbell and Erebonian games, the expanding lore of the series as a whole, or the adventure that Kevin and Reis leads us thru, the game barely stumbles once in its writing and pacing. The strength of the subtlety, confidence, and skill in the writing team seems to not only survive such a format, but thrive on it.
"Cross always referred to me as a princess."
The game's crown jewel at this confident skill is how...well, to express this while spoilering as little as possible...the game's writers tackle a let's say very delicate subject matter for laughs, land a bullseye doing it that way, then turn right around and use the exact same thing for some of the most horrible darkness I have ever seen a game manage to pull off, again landing a bullseye. Just attempting something like this would destroy most writers, yet to do the above? Successfully? Yeah.
"Ah, but of course! How lucky I am to have been named after such a useful plant?"
The 3rd also has what I'll vouch for being the best combat in the series; it's not the domesticated raw power of Cold Steel's is, yet also isn't as bare and restricted as the previous Sky games can be. A really great sweet spot that makes the various boss fights the game has in store a delight.
Oh, and that famous soundteam_JDK music. GLORIOUS! From the outstanding riffage of a Fighting Right On to the haunting emptiness of Labyrinth of Shadows and Light to the elegant heartache of Cradle Where Feelings Rest, we've had another wonderful masterpiece visit us.
"I never thought there'd be a bigger dumbass in this world than me...and yet, here we are."
It's too bad so many will see the previous games and think of them as an 80-hour prereq just to get here, or that this is some cost-effective oddball of the series once they're here, as this is the most consistantly high-quality title I've played both of this series or this year. Literally the only lull in the game was the 6th chapter was a bit long.
Opportunity is a rare event; Lariansoft knows this well having sought out the opportunity to craft a game based on their singular talents of adapting the table-top experience to video game form along with a deft hand at turn-based combat with 2014's breakout hit Divinity: Original Sin. And oh, did they not let the second opportunity to expand and refine that go to waste with the sequel.
"Thanks! You're probably looking for a reward, but I haven't got much. Except, you know, the Wisdom of the Ages."
The first game was deep within Lariansoft's patented flippant snark, which alot of folks thought was unseemly for such a deep, grognard-appeasing game. You know, they listened, but not to what was asked for, but what they would want. Avellone? Van Ord? Yes, they and more bring a more somber, refined air to the plot and characterization but that playful whimsy doesn't disappear into a morass of Teh Machoor grimdark; it stays around, like bright diamonds of mirth in a sea of tasteful purple prose. Such a smart move.
In other words, rejoice: the sneaking is still barrels and bushes!
"As you cup your hands beneath the statue's feet, the oil spills into your palms and overflows. Looking down into the mirrored pool, you see endless blackness...eternal, fuligin night..."
There's more. The game is even more open than before; it's not uncommon to have wildly different ways of escaping, fighting, allying, puzzle-solving, sequence-breaking, and questing in this game. An NPC I didn't barely interact with became a horrifying nemesis to another player, a battle that gave me some struggle was talked out of by another player having completed a quest chain I never even knew existed.
Don't think of it as being able to do everything, think of it as being able to do anything.
The expansion of the cooperative gaming aspect the first one pioneered has gone waaaaaaaaaay further, with standard 4-player, competitive play where you can compete against other players in your "tabletop team" (which is backed up by the plot!), an entire customizable tabletop mode with completely customizable maps and dungeon master control, expanded and more user-friendly mod support, and even more!
"It is SUPERNATURAL! Do not heed me, or any other! Heed only your own lust for power, just like a god should!"
Borislav Slavov had some huge shoes to fill on the musical front taking over for the late, great Kiril Prokovsky, but has done an admirable job with the lilting melodies and mysterious haunting tones of the previous game.
There's also some serious talent with the art and animation work; watching human women twirl their staves with a flick of the heel or Red Prince's casting of Fossil Strike show amazing skill and creativity, whereas the Oil Totems and that...werewolf...er...THING in Reaper's Coast are oh so visually striking.
The only real problem I had with this game was the fact physical weapons undergo MUDflation past midway mark, some major quest lines remained broken for months, and there's some wierd tonal and pacing changes during the 3rd act. But do not worry, this is small beans compared to what they could do with another Enhanced Edition. Make no mistake: this could be the best CRPG ever made with some touch-ups.
The Etrian Odyssey series and its spin-off Persona Q have went thru an evolution, from FM-musicked, harsh-mechanicked throwback to blobbers of 80s computers with a heavy lean towards surviving and charting the wilds to the puzzle-minded missions of IV where one is moving from mind-teasers built from the mechanics to another with characters bristling with power and options. Yet, V goes backwards...while also going forwards, and feels like a best-of the entire series...and may be the best of them all from this.
The dungeon design has that deft teaching of mechanics like a Mario or Valve game that let you play with mechanics one after another before mixing them the hell up in puzzle form, all while testing your long-term mapping and resources like the older games. The menus and options are wonderfully slick and the cartography tools are probably the best yet (no more rote labeling!)
Koshiro again goes yard again with theimpassioned, the terrifying, and theunearthlyonce again in full force as an EO game needs and always delivers. And there's an FM version again!
If you're looking to close out your 3DS' active life in style, you should look into this being what sees it off. At least, you know, till the next one.
Zeboyd Games' love letter to the greats of 16-bit JRPGs is most definately their best outing yet.
"I've never understood these things; if you have a dangerous test subject why stick it in something as flimsy as glass?!?"
Thing is, it's not just "Phantasy Star IV Meets Crono Trigger"; there's PC-98 DNA in the art with that wonderful dithering and 15 second-long oh-so early 90s anime cutscenes, PCE CD/TG16CD music with thoselong-form prog 'n jazz solo-fests, and more work alarmingly well.
And it's so quick! This is perhaps one of the snappiest single-player games I've played in a while with absolutely NO filler and NO dilly-dallying. Lean, mean, and clean.
"I never seem to finish any of these RPGs I buy. Maybe on my next vacation."
I like what Robert and the gang have done with the battle system, one of the things I always had concerns with in other games. Previous to this one, a "timer" involving enemies getting stronger and mana bars filling were shaded out most other factors or at the least heavily influenced things. In here though, with a huge cast of much more dynamic characters and more cycles turning for both you and enemies, it truly, truly sings.
I really only had a few troubles with crashing a half dozen times at launch; it's the only knock on I have on this 15 hours of tightly-wound excellence.
Styyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyle...
Er...*cough* yeah, I'll try to avoid doing that in the forseeable future with this, as it is nearly impossible to talk about Atlus' (I think escalating 3rd?) breakout hit in the oft-delayed, oft-praised Persona 5.
There's something that gets lost or rather, actively overlooked with this series as the rush for other strengths (and the inevitable discussion-wrecking waifu wars), is the Persona series' commital to characterization, theming, and in plain sight social commentary. Apathy, extremist ideologues, moribund economy, and the dehumanizing yet pervasive social media presense are not just vignettes to end a chapter or character arc but are woven into or the very bedrock of the title. It's not for nothing many of the characters or sub-plots of the game read like they were ripped from the headlines with the serial numbers ground off. And it's not just a Japanese-only thing due to the general humanistic vibe Hashino runs with either.
But yes, the audio-visual assault is alarmingly well-done here; with styyyyyyyy...er, stylish menus with jagged prompts and spinning lists topped with pop-art portraits that never ever gets too busy to follow and comes quickly to hand. And that music...this is clearly Meguro's finest "concept album" since Digital Devil Saga 1. Days When My Mother Was There,Layer Cake,Life Will Change and so so many other tracks dripping with tasteful disco strings and powerful cadence just...yeah.
I like the cast. They feel like a collection of cast-offs and put-upons denied their true selves true to the series with stand-outs Yusuke (an actual JoJo's character), Makoto (great driven brainy girl archetype), and Futaba (nice plot relevance and on-the-spectrum accuracy) being the crown jewels
While the pacing is better than 4s (which is better than 3's) with its escalating real world pressures leading you smartly from Palace to Palace, I did have problems when battle balancing is taken into account; Hard is a rote damage boost whereas Normal is kinda easy leading to the similar problems earlier games had.
And then there's the Confidante boosts, which entirely trivialize things once maxxed out, especially some of the dungeon assist ones.
And then there's the tired, busted anti-gay stereotypes.
And then there's the clumsy player-hating "you can't take this screenshot" even though I have Trophies off ruining cool scenes.
And then the last dungeon stretch was like mainline Megaten but without the detached, megalomanic theming of those games which doesn't work and just drag out the last 5 hours.
But still, this is a very worthy game and I am very relieved it hit 99% of the target quality I had set for them waaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2013 for styyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyle...
My Very First Shooter and I picked a good one. I've heard some have described this one as a horror movie where everyone is the last survivor and everyone else is the monsters, and that is definately true of single player where any noise is a potential opening for a quick death. But what describes both single-player and the wacky hijinx of multiplayer is the force of Rogue-like on game.
Having a random plane path, generally random loot, random circle-of-death placement, random red zone, etc forces you to think on your feet, gives opportunity, and keeps things fresh hour after hour where death isn't a real drag, as, again, Rogue-like-like, you just reque. Gunned down in the beginning as you search two whole buildings and only find melee and smoke grenades? Smoke 5 dudes only to die on the move to the second circle? Die in a fingernail-biting battle of inches for 2nd? Ya in, ya out, a multiplayer Shooter-Roguelike, all without killing skill or punishing new players.
I like how the maps work with the little details of each settlement and the general design of each makes for some neat stories and strategies, especially considering they're largely a collection of asset flips with some bespoke key features.
There are problems. Performance issues still haunt the game like lag upon landing, the far corners of the map are nearly useless to bother with since it's so far from a circle that's not in the same corner, and the flipping of crates on the Steam marketplace, while *quite* profitable (I've more than paid off the $30 entrance fee), is attracting cheaters that already are a bane to on-line shooters despite Blue Hole's best efforts.
So yeah, it's flawed, but it's incredibly addictive with its tamed simulation and mountains of tension. I can't wait until the new map is out and the hunt for my next Chicken Dinner to continue on a new map.
Nihon Falcom's very last computer game is the kind of passion project that defines both Falcom and XSEED. Just like Xanadu Next last year, it's not localized to nail any zeitgeist, it's localized because it needed to be.
"Ragna never takes the handkerchief out because he doesn't know how to fold it to put it back."
Again, this isn't a charity effort, Zwei 2 (as I'll call it) is a surprisingly clever and engauging oddity. The Ys-lite combat works surprisingly well with the Trails-lite narrative without either (generally) feeling like a B-Team effort from either facet. You nuke, you juggle, you chat, you socialize, it's great stuff.
The details and quirks of this is what sets it apart giving it a neat 'gamified" feeling to the whole thing. You gain little "subsystems" that make little screens around the periphery of the screen, WinAMP-looking doo-dads, a predecessor of Cold Steel's NPC notes, and the pet system are these neat little fun bits to spice things up in a "why not" eccentricity that really sells its Aughts PC heritage that its look and subgenre belies. Then there's the level squares at each branch of the dungeons which, combined with the ratings system for clears and the unique "eat HP-restoring food" mechanic, really give this hands-on feel that gives so many tiers of enjoyment to the title.
"Betcha she's sittin' around sipping from a tiny teacup, taking delicate little bites of muffin."
Oh right: Falcom Game. Soundteam_JDK music. Stellar as always.
I really appreciated the characters; Alwen isn't some shrill naive goth, and Ragna isn't some hotblooded, asexual meathead; there's a slick nuance to even their first interactions which back up the partnership combat like a boss.
There are problems. The bigger enemies tend to push characters around on pre-determined paths to get in place to do attacks and there's a nasty sloppiness from hitboxes at times lending a feeling of playing safe with large groups of enemies. Other than dated textures, that's it!
Taking claustrophobic grid-based blobbin' it up out amongst the derlict starbases and cyberpunk megacorps headquarters between the stars, this really snazzy title I found did alot right.
The best part was how they went for broke with overpowered classes then utilized them right. Oh, you will unleash a TORRENT of hurtin' with even the most modest of party synergy but the effects upon buffing/debuffing/rotations/shields never comes off as contrived as such balancing can feel. You really do feel like you're getting away with something the devs didn't think of when you've got viruses and grenades flying hither and yon but it's allowed and that's great.
Didn't really cotton to the FOV which was never not at least a bit nauseating, and the humor could crater on occasion.
I didn't go into this with the same sky-high requirements that its pedigree instilled in others. No, that's not to overlook it's shortcomings (note I didn't say "flaws"), but this title hit a surprisingly high number of its goals in a tortured gestation.
The world is quite honestly caked with the many layers of anachronisms that the writers show off really well, tangenting off to the character development of people living with mystic, tech, and raw primitive ignorance all at once with panache. It's much easier to hit anachronism, but it's much harder to show a society that came from it and make interesting questchains and character arcs in it.
I liked the Effort system; something simple that pivots off stats without either closing one completely off from one roll of the die, but also without doing the "everything your heart desires" problem some recent WRPGs get stuck in.
Remember that "shortcomings" comment? The actual square footage of the game is suprisingly small. While it does give that denseness of 8 previous worlds living in anachronism a great service, it quickly shows just how short the money went and where the game had to be cordoned off to get it out the door. This effects more than just the length, there's entire themes that just get resolved so quickly risking the feeling of a series of aborted vignettes.
You fight robo-dinos with cool spears and bows!
Hard to get past this entry without giving nods to the alarmingly-deep-in-my-inner-10yo's-wheelwell setting, but yeah. I like the characters, I love the art direction (Aloy is like, the 2nd non-black person to rock dreds without looking like a douche; hard to pull off), and the fighting is not bad. It feels like "Witcher 3 meets Monster Hunter" without that not going off the rails, which is commendable.
