John_Wiswell

Just got to Path B of Nier Automata. Mixed feelings on the game overall so far, but wow, the first moment you reload that save to see the next path, it is something utterly different. Not what I expected.

If it had been a new game from an unknown dev, I would've rolled my eyes and scrubbed forward through the trailer in search of gameplay or a story. But given it's the sequel to one of the most affecting game stories ever, the focus on violence and the paucity of character simply made it a massive letdown.

Naughty Dog is great at telling stories. They showed off a scene that failed to make me care that absolutely horrible things were happening in their world. That's a huge failure.

Probably my favorite game of one of my favorite years in gaming. So much of the game grasps the thrills and tensions of exploration. I love the map system. Every new region requires an expedition specifically to find the cartographer - or for you to draw your own map in real life.

Totally Dark Souls 3. The expansions have been a great excuse to go through the game a couple more times. Love the combat and environmental designs. That twin demons boss fight is a work of beauty.

You picked the right one, though.

My ballot looks a little like this. I need to finish Nier and Mario Odyssey before I can judge them on most things, but Nier definitely has style.

Best Style:

1.) Pyre

2.) What Remains of Edith Finch

3.) Nier: Automata

Games I wish I had time to play:

1.) Darkwood

2.) Heat Signature

3.) Persona 5

Best New Character 2017:

1.) Lewis Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)

2.) Loshe (Divinity: Original Sin 2)

3.) Red Prince (Divinity: Original Sin 2)

Game of the Year 2017:

1.) Hollow Knight

2.) Tie between Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Divinity: Original Sin 2

3.) Resident Evil 7

4.) What Remains of Edith Finch

5.) Tie between Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nioh, and Pyre

There is no way I was going to play through all of Metal Gear Solid. Too much of it is cool in theory but frustrating it practice. Thank God for Drew Scanlon.

There are a few games with strong achievement design that encourages one to find neat content or play in interesting ways. For a while I viewed them as an excuse to spend more time with games I loved.

But at some point, yeah, they messed up the fun of games for me. I'm playing Divinity Original Sin 2, and noticed an achievement for doing something specific that I didn't know was an option thirty hours ago and now could only get if I restarted the game. Similar to the awful convention of scoring people's performance in levels (like getting a C in Devil May Cry), it makes me feel like the way I did things was *wrong*. That sucks the fun out of everything.

Gradually, achievements have conditioned me to play games the way that gets me more achievements rather than the way that is most fun without them, and the achievement-friendly way usually isn't the most fun anymore. It's often an excuse to get people to do things like use parts of an arsenal that suck.

A few months ago I turned off achievement notifications. I prefer it this way. It took a decade, but they got inside my head and did nothing good for me.

I haven't bought a single game this year that wasn't fun or enriching. I wouldn't Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was fun, and at some points it was emotionally grueling, but in a good way. Maybe it or Slime Rancher were the least great things I've played so far? But I still adore them.

But looking in from the outside, Mass Effect: Andromeda was a depressing mess. Mass Effect 2 was one of my favorite games I've ever played. 3, not so much. Andromeda looked even less compelling than that, with terrible launch jank, uninspired writing and voice acting. That it might actually have killed the franchise with my favorite SciFi universe is awful - and even worse, that it might have killed it by leaving the cool galaxy they'd already set up. The game I wanted was Citadel Detective, before or during the original trilogy. Do intimate stories within those rich cultures.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - I haven't played a CRPG in a while, but this looks deep and amazing. The promise of a whole race of undead mixed in with all the more classic Fantasy races changes everything. It also looks graphically gorgeous.

Outreach - Stranded on a space station, in the middle of a Cold War thriller story? Super curious how this turns out, and if it's still going to land in 2017.

Shadow of War - Looks like they've done an incredible job expanding what made Shadow of Mordor cool. I believe Monolith could make a system that won't be damaged by microtransactions, too. But I am worried that I'll be wrong.

Katana ZERO - Another game that might slip to 2018, but it oozes style and is definitely a big dot on my radar.

Mario Odyssey - I'm a much bigger 2D Mario guy than a 3D Mario guy, but controlling enemies with your hat just looks so fun.

Not that I'm hurting for content. I haven't beaten Nier yet, or even started Hellblade, Observer, or Darkwood.