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langdonx

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Best of 2017

Regrets and Honorable Mentions:

Regrettably Not Played:

  1. Cuphead
  2. Hollow Knight
  3. Nioh
  4. South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Honorable Mention:

  1. Persona 5 - I can't believe I didn't finish this game. Persona 4 Golden was one of the most perfect games I've ever played and Persona 5 seemed like it would easily live up to expectations set. For some reason though, I just bounced off of it. I played through May or June, a little passed where I took out Madarame. I think part of the reason I bounced off was because it wasn't mobile and I couldn't just pick up and play it anywhere.
  2. Gran Turismo Sport - I hadn't really played a good Gran Turismo since 3, but really wanted to play Sport and even bought a new wheel for it. While Sport wasn't perfect and I never even went online, I still had a blast learning to play it and "drive correctly" instead of bouncing off of opponent's cars to get faster turns.
  3. Mr Shifty - A very tight and focused experience, Mr Shifty gave me Hotline Miami vibes.
  4. SteamWorld Dig 2 - This was more of the same from the first (which was perfection) and ran like a dream on the Vita.
  5. Knack II - The game is good. I don't understand why it's the butt of everyone's joke.

List items

  • I observed the PUBG zeitgeist for 6 months, never wanting to personally get involved. I recognized the novelty (even if it wasn't 100% new), but stayed away for multiple reasons -- uninteresting aesthetic, negativity surrounding the lack of polish, and probably some fear of getting in late and trying to close the skill gap. Fortnite came around at a perfect time, and from a perfect angle (free). I had no reason not to jump in and give it a try. This was September on 26th. For the rest of the year, not a day went by where I didn't play this game. I stayed up all night not once, but TWICE playing (something I'd not done since Demon's Souls in 2010). The aesthetic (~Borderlands), the gameplay (H1Z1+PUBG with building), and the level of polish and attention to detail that I don't think has been seen in games before created the perfect storm. Fortnite is probably the reason that games are missing from this list, and from my list of games played in 2017. Like WarCraft III and Street Fighter IV before it, I expect to continue to play this for years.

  • This is probably one of the most solid open world games I've had the opportunity to play. The graphics were absolutely stunning and helped make the characters more believable and in some cases quite likable (https://twitter.com/langdonx/status/845798595186085888). The combination of enemies, weapons, and skills made for incredibly diverse, intense, and engaging combat. The writing for the main story and side quests was as good as some of the better linear games I've played. I can't recommend this game enough.

  • Wolfenstein II is the opposite of 2016's Doom. Where Doom was incredible for its feel and mechanics, Wolfenstein II was incredible for its story, set pieces, and ability to surprise the player. The gameplay is perfectly acceptable however, which is why this ranked so high on my list. Wolfenstein II has some of the most memorable moments in gaming history.

  • Kan Gao has an incredible talent for storytelling and just like with To the Moon, Finding Paradise is a masterpiece. It manages to continue telling a story about characters you know while weaving an entirely new tale of someone else's life and manages to be just as moving as the original.

    I will be thrilled if this series continues indefinitely.

  • Dead Cells plays like a dream and seems incredibly deep for the genre. Given the variety of weapons and skills coupled with the variety of routes that you can take through a single game, every run is unique and almost always surprising. There's seemingly infinite replayability here, especially if you're looking to challenge yourself. I put a solid 31 hours into the game, beating most of what it had to offer at the time, although admittedly on an "easier" patch at the time. Dead Cells is a game I will definitely return to.

  • An entire year went by and I never wrote a description for this game. I don't know if that necessarily means it wasn't memorable, or that I only spent 2 weeks with it (beat it, Platinum'd it) and my memories of it swallowed up quickly by other games (Fortnite, etc).

    Heavenly Sword was one of my most memorable games from the PlayStation 3 and I was so excited to play Hellblade (same studio). I do remember really enjoying it and did decide to place it 6th before writing any description. The puzzle solving aspect of the games were really neat and a nice break from the (what I remember) very deliberate combat. I got got by the fake warning in the game which absolutely changed the way I played it (likely for the better, as it felt more tense). I never did return to Heavenly Sword, and I imagine if I did , it wouldn't hold up, but I have a feeling Hellblade won't suffer much from time.

  • Pyre is the best "choose your own adventure" implementation I've seen in games yet. It also did something to me that no game has ever done... it convinced me to lose on purpose. I had spent the better half of 10 hours save-scumming my way through the game. I didn't want to lose any of the NBA Jam-style matches, so if I lost, I would just reload the previous save until I won. This was until Pamitha asked me to throw an important game so that her sister could be anointed. I couldn't resist her plea, put my controller down, and watched my opponents douse our flame. I never lost another game and didn't regret that loss for a second.

  • While it didn't live up to the GB staff hype, Nier Automata was an absolutely terrific game. From the unique way the story evolved through the multiple routes, to the varied game play, to the awesome soundtrack, Nier really had a lot to offer. Something about it as well (perhaps the mix of music, town exploration, and NPC dialog) gave me vibes of Final Fantasy of old (a great thing). I'm excited to see what Yoko Taro and team will pull off in the future.

  • While Lost Legacy landed in 9th place, like Uncharted 4 in 2016, it did so against a set of much better games. Somehow Lost Legacy managed to be better than Uncharted 4. I'm honestly not sure why -- perhaps because it was a tighter, less meandering experience, because of the fresh new characters, or something else entirely. Either way, it was great. Were it not for Fortnite, I probably would've had it Platinum'd by now...

  • Prey developed such an enjoyable world to explore and story to unravel. All of the weapons and ways you could play the game really helped make it an enjoyable experience. I think if it weren't as difficult as it was, it would rank higher on my list.
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