by mento
Same deal as the other "GOTY (Adjusted)" lists. The idea is to build GOTY lists that are constantly in flux, ever adapting themselves to a new year's worth of catch-up gaming. Like the Borg, but for video game lists. With enough time I should be able to play through every 2017 game that piqued my interest and construct a list that ideally represents what that year meant to me in terms of games, but that wasn't going to happen on the year in question: too many full-price new releases, too little time.
I'm still reeling from just how exceptional a year for games 2017 was. Though this list has more than doubled in size since the end of 2017, I've still got a not inconsiderable number of bangers left from that year that I can't wait to tuck into. I can't tell if it was the stars aligning or what, but it felt like a year strong in both franchise iterations - I can think of a dozen long-running series that (debatably) saw one of their strongest entries that year, including Ys, Super Mario, Zelda, Divinity, Nier, Tales, Assassin's Creed, Yakuza, and others - and new intellectual properties, and likewise it was a banner year for the Indie circuit and the big-budget AAA industry alike. It's rare that a year can end and I can compose a list of over fifty games of a "must play" calibre. If it wasn't for all the catastrophic shit that was also happening in 2017, I'd almost wish it was three months longer.
For reference's sake, my original 2017 GOTY list is here.
| GOTYs | (Adjusted) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
(2017 Games Yet to Play: Dragon Quest Heroes II, RosenkreuzStilette Freudenstachel, Sonic Mania.)
(2017 Games Yet to Buy: Echo, Knack 2, Layton's Mystery Journey, LEGO Worlds, Metroid: Samus Returns, Snipperclips, Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles.)
(Extra note: This list is gigantic, so I'm only including appraisals for the first twenty, or anything that was in the top 20 at some point. I've written about every game on here somewhere else on the site, though.)
[Last Edited January 2025.]
Showing 1-10 of 100 items
2017 Rank: 1 2018 Rank: 1 2019 Rank: 1 2020 Rank: 1 2021 Rank: 1 Even though my 2017 GOTY has undergone and will undergo a lot of reshuffling, I can't imagine anything toppling NieR: Automata and the sheer gratitude I have for it. It not only reaffirms my belief that the original Nier was a fine game that just needed a little polish here and there, but also that humanity is worth saving and worth fighting for in spite of its occasional stupidity and cruelty. Also that soundtrack is amazing, and incredible enough that it somehow beat a Ys game and a Yakuza game released the same year. Best Moment: Ending E. Just... Ending E.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: 2 2019 Rank: 2 2020 Rank: 2 2021 Rank: 2 The quintessential 3D platforming game. Another case of overwhelming gratitude: that someone high up in Nintendo decided, in 2018, to create an open collectathon platformer in the same style as Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine, i.e. my favorite type of 3D platformer. It's the game that convinced me I needed a Switch right this moment, even if it took another year to buy a second retail game for the system. Best Moment: A Traditional Festival (New Donk City). The whole game is a paean to fun and good times, but that particular sequence makes it literal.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: 3 2019 Rank: 3 2020 Rank: 3 2021 Rank: 3 Ys is one of the more consistently entertaining RPG franchises out there, but every time I think they risk biting off more than they chew they prove me blissfully wrong. Lacrimosa of Dana is approximately three times longer than either Ys Origin or Ys: The Oath in Felghana due to its restructuring as a more open and expansive RPG. It's able to stretch that runtime in a way that feels natural however, augmenting the strong real-time combat core with various side-modes like the tower-defense-ish (but not in a bad way) monster raids or the mild amount of settlement developing. It also has the best soundtrack of any Ys, which also puts it up in the top five of best VGM soundtracks of all time, perhaps only pipped in 2017 by NieR: Automata's deeply passionate trilingual masterpiece. Best Moment: The tutorial fight with a kraken, Deadly Temptation roaring over the speakers. Ys VIII doesn't take too long to get going but there's a lot of text to read before that first fight comes along and you realize you're home.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: N/A 2019 Rank: 4 2020 Rank: 4 2021 Rank: 4 A superior sequel that addressed all my shortcomings with the first and is about as close to CRPG nirvana as it's possible to be, with a huge amount of customization and strategic options for battles that are not just limited to character builds but also to the environment, with each battle seemingly handcrafted to offer its own distinct challenge. I long to watch Giant Bomb try their hand at a multiplayer campaign, but I'm not sure they have the stones for it. Best Moment: After a rough opening chapter, figuring out my team synergy after one quick visit to the respec mirror.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: N/A 2019 Rank: 5 2020 Rank: 5 2021 Rank: 5 Real tough call between Yakuza 0 and everything above it, as they're all the acme of their particular franchises. Yakzua is an iterative process - you can see where 90% of this game comes from if you've already played Yakuza 1-5 - but it never stops delivering on its combat engine (with new alternative styles), its perfect blend of drama and comedy, and a long-awaited look into the backstory of the franchise's most compelling recurring sorta-villain Majima. Even steeped as it is with Yakuza history, its prequel status also makes it a perfect onboarding game for newcomers. Best Moment: I mean, it's probably Nugget, but all the sub-stories are stellar and worth checking out.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: 4 2019 Rank: 6 2020 Rank: 6 2021 Rank: 6 It's remarkable what Nintendo and Aonuma accomplished with Breath of the Wild, adapting the tried-and-tested formula of the Legend of Zelda franchise for an open-world format that switches up the linear progression of the more recent games for something approaching the blank canvas that was the NES original. No real direction, no concrete goals beyond defeating Ganon, and the game is at its best when you're exploring everything it has to offer at your own pace. It'll be hard for any open-world game, let alone the next Zelda, to top Breath of the Wild and the particular brand of wanderlust it inspires. Best Moment: Pulling out the Master Sword, if only because it meant having a weapon that wouldn't break after three swings.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: 5 2019 Rank: 7 2020 Rank: 7 2021 Rank: 7 It felt like all my favorite franchises were on top form in 2017 (including a few I've yet to revisit, but sure am looking forward to), not least of which was Bandai Namco's prolific action-RPG Tales franchise. Berseria grabs the reins of the franchise and corrects its course after Zestiria threatened to derail the whole enterprise; not that Zestiria was too bad, but when you have a fifteen-game long franchise a so-so entry can raise questions about running out of steam. Berseria represents everything I love about Tales: an active and hectic combat system that is just short of hopelessly convoluted in the way anime fighters usually get; a cast of characters I can happily spend over 70 hours getting to know; and a smart assortment of features both old and new. Best Moment: It might be the physically and emotionally brutal "Berserk: The Golden Age Arc"-esque way the prologue concludes. What a way to establish that this particular Tales is going to be just a smidge darker than usual.
2017 Rank: 2 2018 Rank: 6 2019 Rank: 8 2020 Rank: 8 2021 Rank: 8 It's dipped quite a bit since the original GOTY list, but Specter of Torment still stands tall as a 2D platformer that gets its platforming as close to perfection as possible. It retains all the best features of Shovel Knight - the humor, the level design variation, that music - but adds on top of that a more emotional story (well, maybe on an even level) and a form of traversal that 2018's The Messenger smartly borrowed for its "cloudstepping" technique: hitting enemies or projectiles in mid-air and being afforded an extra jump, which is a loop that can be executed an infinite number of times. This game just flows, man, and there's few games of its type that can match it. Best Moment: Completing the challenging tower climbing mini-game for the first time, proving your full mastery of the spin-off's controls. No special reward besides a lot of gold but the satisfaction alone is enough.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: 7 2019 Rank: 9 2020 Rank: 9 2021 Rank: 9 I've played a number of games like Hollow Knight - it straddles the void between Dark Souls and explormers, and deliberately so - but very few with its mastery of atmosphere and tone. Dark Souls is a complete package that internet scholars are still dissecting. Most focus too much on its punishing - if fair - difficulty and the level of deliberate care put into its encounters, whether that's fighting an enormous boss or simply walking down an innocuous cliff path where a giant skeleton is winding up to punt you into oblivion. However, a lot of its appeal is in its "show, don't tell" narrative approach and finding quiet moments of beauty in the otherwise desolate and corrupt remains of a broken world. Hollow Knight hits those same beats like a practiced session musician, and it's hard to overstate how beneficial to the overall game experience that becomes. Best Moment: Sitting on a bench with the amicable Quirrel, listening to the rain hit the glass somewhere high up in the City of Tears.
2017 Rank: N/A 2018 Rank: N/A 2019 Rank: N/A 2020 Rank: N/A 2021 Rank: 10 An exceptional if perhaps inessential way to see out the Trails in the Sky trilogy with a fanservice-heavy story that pays off the player's many hours of investment in this world of heroic bracers, villainous secret organizations, and an ancient civilization that left way too much powerful shit behind. It also handily sets up Trails from Zero/Azure and Trails of Cold Steel by going into the present political status of their settings, so either the developers were psychic or they'd already sketched out the story content for the next seven Trails games - some impressive foresight. Best Moment: Recruiting the villain of the first Trails in the Sky and discovering how much of a badass he is in combat, thereby left wondering how you ever beat that game. And then facing a certain "otou-san" and getting predictably wiped off the face of the Earth.
