Friends, like many of you I was bowled over by 2017's bounty of video game offerings. It was a veritable cornucopia of video game delights that year, including many franchise peaks: The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Ys, NieR, Tales, Divinity, Yakuza, Assassin's Creed, Danganronpa, SteamWorld, and Uncharted all debatably got their best games in a long while (if not ever) during the twelve months of 2017 - Mass Effect perhaps being the only exception - and that's not to get into all the excellent new IPs that debuted also. Since then, I've been slowly growing my "adjusted" GOTY list for 2017 to account for everything I was unable to fit in at the time.

Here at the dawn of 2021, four years later, I'm looking to expand that adjusted list to an even hundred: 2017 will be the first year, ever, that I'll have a top hundred GOTY list instead of a top ten or twenty, and because of how strong that year was even the 100th ranked game on there will still be something commendable. As of the end of 2020, that 2017 GOTY (Adjusted) list sits at 66 entries: two-thirds the way to my stated goal. Each month of 2021, I'm going to try to play an average of 2.8333* games from 2017, which will get me the 34 I need to finally complete a list of one hundred. That's just math, my dudes.

(Granted, I could've come up with a nicer word for these leftovers than "dredge," but then I wouldn't have been able to make that sweet pun. Some sacrifices are necessary.)

So yes, this is my "thing" for this year. Playing a bunch of four-year-old games.

Next is a list of major remaining/unbought 2017 highlights I probably should include on that final list, in descending order of importance (2021 Steam/PSN sales don't fail me now):

1. Trails in the Sky the 3rd (PC) (Played in August and September)
2. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (PS4) (Played in February)
3. Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
4. Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection (PC) (Played in December)
5. The Mummy Demastered (PC/PS4/NS) (Played in August)
6. Cuphead (PS4/NS) (Played in December)
7. Layton's Mystery Journey (NS)
8. Snipperclips (NS)
9. Tokyo Dark (PC/PS4/NS) (Played in April)
10. Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles (PS4/NS)
11. Dragon Quest Heroes II (PS4)
12. Observer (PS4/NS)
13. Echo (PS4)
14. ELEX (PS4) (Played in July)
15. Knack II (PS4)

(That said, I do currently own more than 34 unplayed 2017 games, so this feature's goal will be met at no extra cost if I really decide to cheap it out. Sorry Knack.)

Before we commence with The Project, I want to explain in way more detail than is needed how I'll be rating the games I play. Each will receive a letter grade which corresponds to whereabouts on the final list of 100 I project it'll place:

• S-Rank (1-10): For as much faith as I have that there's some excellent 2017 games I overlooked, I'm skeptical any can break into the top ten as it stands right now. It's some real crème-de-la-crème primo shit up there. We're talking something better than Tokyo Xanadu eX+ or Hollow Knight, which... well, I can think of maybe one game on my yet-to-play list that might make it, but hard to say any others will.
• A-Rank (11-20): This feels like a more conceivable goal for the better games on my to-do list. Though they've missed the top ten, we're still breathing in the rarefied air of 5-Star City up here: all games I'd recommend to others without reservation. Would-be VIPs looking to cross the velvet rope will need to surpass Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle or SteamWorld Dig 2, which is unlikely but not impossible.
• B-Rank (21-40): This will be the main battlefield for these additions, I suspect, which is roughly analogous to a "firm 4-Star zone". Any half-decent game will have a chance here, provided I like it more than Assassin's Creed Origins (not difficult; I'm a little burned out on AC these days) or Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (looked great, felt ancient).
• C-Rank (41-60): The middle of the table is still nothing to scoff at - around a softer 4-Star rating in most cases. We'll probably see the greatest turnover here, as various current B-rankers get knocked down by newcomers. The C-rank entry barrier consists of Milkmaid of the Milky Way and Uurnog Uurnlimited: two decent enough Indies that I don't have any strong emotions about. If a game inspires a reaction better than "eh, it was all right," it's in with a shot.
• D-Rank (61-80): Talking of ambivalence, here's where I imagine all the games that came in and went out of my skull without interrupting the furniture will end up. Games I'll be struggling to recall for too much longer, but certainly weren't abjectly awful or had too many caveats to condemn them. The white bread, non-dairy low-fat margarine spread also-rans of the 2017 release library. This is currently where my GOTY list ends, so anything that doesn't have enough juice to topple anything else on there will end up here by default. Well, until the list expands beyond 80 entries, in which case they'll end up at...
• E-Rank (81-100): This is where the word "Dredge" actually applies, though keep in mind I'm not sticking anything on this list that doesn't deserve to be there. Even if I don't feel strongly about any of the games that wind up at the bottom it doesn't mean that I don't think some joy can be derived from them. It could also be the case that a lot of great games that just didn't tickle me right end up down here, to the consternation of their fanbases. Right now, as the current list stops at 66, there's no bar for a game to overcome to end up here beyond "don't be shit." I'm curious to find out what will float down here by the time I'm done.
• F-Rank (100+): Look, I don't mean to be impolite here, but there's a strong possibility that there's going to be games in this upcoming roster I can't in good conscience add to a "best of" anything. Whether they're woefully uninspired or have major technical and gameplay issues or I simply don't like them, this is the grade for those games I don't want anywhere near a personal GOTY list. Pretty much talking anything 2-Stars or below. Of course, every F grade I give out means I'll have to compensate with an extra game if I still want to still hit that 100 target by the end of the year, but a guy's gotta have standards...

Finally, here we go with the project so far:

One last thing: Suggestions for 2017 games that deserve to be on a top 100 list are encouraged, though keep in mind that I'm picky when it comes to preferred genres. For further details, please feel free to peruse this spreadsheet of 2017 games I've played, games I intend to play (whether I own them already or not), and games I've discounted or abandoned. The Giant Bomb community's top 50 are on there already. (Donations welcome for anything wishlisted! But only if you have spare keys from bundles lying around; no need to put yourself out on my behalf. I'll be sure to include credits where applicable.)

Well folks, here's hoping I hit one hundred by December 31st and don't get too distracted with non-2017 games. Doesn't seem like there's a whole lot else happening this year, at least...