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Milkman

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Milkman's Top 10 Games of 2017

I won't preface this with some self-aggrandizing thing about how bad of a year 2017 was and how I found solace in video games or whatever. I think we've all heard enough of that and I've got nothing particularly profound to add but I will preface by saying that over the last couple years my time and my drive to play games has severely diminished. I attribute it mostly to just getting older and other things taking preeminence in my life. I haven't even written one of these top 10 lists in three years and last year, I was lucky if I played through five games all year, let alone 10. But this year, I was able to get through just enough games to scrap something together. There's still plenty of stuff I wish I played. NieR: Automata is downloading on my PS4 as I type this, I don't have a Switch to play Super Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild and I'll be sure to play Divinity II as soon as there is a console version that I can play. But until then, here's my top 10 games of 2017.

10. What Remains of Edith Finch

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Usually when it comes to smaller, independent games like this, they keep the scope small and that's what makes these simpler, more personal stories more effective. What Remains of Edith Finch is a deeply personal story but where it differs from other games of its ilk is in its multi-generational scope. Through it's brief two hour playtime, What Remains chronicles the history of the Finch family from 1880 to 2017 and as the scope of storytelling expands as does the various gameplay gimmicks that the game throws at the player. This isn't your average walking simulator where you're exploring a house looking at various knick knacks and mementos that fill in the holes of a story, What Remains of Edith Finch transports you through time and place, putting you in the story of the entire Finch family throughout history. While it didn't hold the same emotional resonance with me as something like Gone Home or some of the other games that appear on this list, it was a concise and powerful trip that is sure to stick with the player in some way.

9. Life is Strange: Before the Storm

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If I had written one of these lists in 2015, Life is Strange would be somewhere near the top of it. It was an extremely powerful coming of age story that overcome a time traveling gimmick that easily could have overshadowed and derailed the emotional core of the story. When a prequel was announced, it seemed unnecessary in a lot of ways. We know how this story ends and add that to the fact that none of the original voice talent was returning because of a voice actor strike, it was easy to feel a little dirty about the whole thing. So, I was shocked to find that the emotional highs of Before the Storm actually ended up exceeding those of the original game.

The relationship between Chloe and Rachel Amber feels real and resonants in a way that not many, if anything, other relationships in games ever have. Episode 2 of Before the Storm, in particular, has moments that brought up feelings in me that no other game ever has. It's a relationship that's so well done that it almost makes you forget that you know the ending of it, which makes it all the more disappointing that episode 3 all but abandons the relationship in favor of an unrelated, much less interesting storyline. But the accomplishments of Before the Storm before that point are still impossible to ignore and are an incredible feat for a game that still has no business being as good as it is.

8. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

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Wolfenstein: The New Order was a game that I really wanted to like but could never get over the fact that I just hated actually playing the game. Wolfenstein II carries over a lot of the same problems that New Order had in this regard but once you put the game on the easiest difficulty and just take the game as the nazi murdering roller coaster it is, these gameplay failures become a lot easier to overlook. Wolfenstein II is, at its core, an amazing moment generator. There is multiple instances throughout New Colossus' campaign that leaves your mouth agape at the pure audacious nonsense that's happening on your screen. The storytelling unfortunately can pale in comparison a lot of the times and the writing stumbles a bit when it tries to get into more serious topics.

For as much as New Colossus was hyped up before and immediately after its release as a game that was willing in go places that other games weren't, it disappointed me that this story of resistance was still so couched in nationalistic hoorah. But where Wolfenstein II failed in its subtlety, it more than made up for in its memorable cast of characters, extraordinary moments and pure fun.

7. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

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Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is, in a lot of ways, the perfect Uncharted game. It trims all the fat and filler away to deliver a expertly paced, concise campaign with all the things you love about Uncharted. The character interactions, the set pieces and the exploration are all there, just in a more cohesive, easily digestible package. Lost Legacy does miss the environment variety and globe trotting of the previous Uncharted games but the environment that is there is varied and gorgeous enough to be plenty satisfying. You would think that after years of Uncharted games the impact of their graphical achievements would have some diminishing returns but some of the vistas in Lost Legacy are so breathtaking that they stop you in your tracks.

But it's the human element of Lost Legacy that really makes it stand out. The characters of Uncharted have always been one of its strong suits and it's never been better than here, thanks to the undeniable chemistry between Chloe and Nadine. The writing is, as always, top notch and while there's not much in the way of innovation beyond a few minor improvements, the sum of its parts creates the video game equivalent of a great summer blockbuster. Easy to enjoy escapism that's amazing to look at and even more fun to play.

6. Cuphead

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I know for a fact that I will never see the end of Cuphead or even get all that close to it. I'm just not good enough at it. So it says a lot that despite me slamming my head against the wall for hours and not getting much of anywhere that I still enjoyed Cuphead as much as I did. It's been a long road for Cuphead from the "wait, what was THAT?" E3 reveal so it's pretty amazing that even after years of seeing glimpses of the game that the impact of actually loading it up for the first time still hits so hard. Graphical advancements in games can often just feel like refinements of the same idea over and over again but Cuphead is something wholly unique. There's no game that looks like Cuphead and there probably will never be another game in the future that looks like it. As frustrated as I got with the difficulty of the game, I powered through as much as I could simply because I had to see what the next boss looked like and time and time again, I was blown away by what I saw.

All this would mean nothing if the game didn't play well so luckily, it plays just about perfectly. An extreme precision and tightness is necessary for the challenges that Cuphead throws at you and it's a testament to how finely tuned the controls are that you almost never feel like dying was the game's fault and not yours. I wish I was better at Cuphead so I could see the rest of what the game has to offer but even just based on what I have seen, it's an unforgettable experience alike any other.

5. Sonic Mania

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Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2 on the Genesis are two of my first gaming memories. As a kid, I don't think I ever beat either game but I played through the first few stages of each countless times. I'm not sure that there's many games that I would call "important" to me in my life but those two are definitely among them. So, it's easy to see why I immediately fell in love with Sonic Mania. The music of Green Hill Zone has been engrained into my memory since I was a toddler so when I loaded up Sonic Mania for the first time and that music started, all the pleasure endorphins in my brain started pulsating and I was hooked. As someone who generally hates nostalgia and finds art that preys on it to be uninspired at best and emotionally manipulative at worst, this is a rare feeling for me. It's also a feeling that probably would have worn out its welcome and dissipated pretty quickly if the game wasn't that good.

But Sonic Mania is that good. I maintain that there aren't many better feelings in games than really getting your momentum going in a Sonic game and rocketing through a stage like its second nature. The game's recreations of the classic Sonic 2D stages are great in their own right but the new stages here are just as inventive and thrilling as the old. Tough but fair in all the right ways, Sega has finally delivered the 2D Sonic that I waited 20 years for.

4. Yakuza 0

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This feels like the story of most people that played Yakuza 0 this year but I never thought I'd play a Yakuza game, let alone love one as much as I did. I've been vaguely aware of the existence of the series for years but never really understood what these games even were. Even after playing through Yakuza 0, it's still kind of hard to describe what kind of game it is simply because there aren't very many experiences like it. Yakuza 0 is a open world adventure game, it's a dating sim, it's a brawler, it's a management sim. It's one of the most thoroughly unique games I've played in a long time. The story is both irreverent and hilarious while still managing to have genuinely effecting, impactful moments throughout.

In its own way, Yakuza 0 has everything. The open world of Yakuza 0 is far from the most ambitious or fully realized open world of this year but it is chock full of amazing little rewards for poking around inside it. In fact, no one part of Yakuza 0 really feels particularly crafted in the same way a lot of AAA games do but what it has that those other games lack is a heart beating at its center. Yakuza 0 is far from perfect but it doesn't attest to be and it doesn't try to be anything other than what it is. What exactly that is, I'm still not sure but what I do know is that Yakuza 0 is one of the most purely fun experiences I've had with a game all year.

3. Horizon Zero Dawn

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From a gameplay perspective, Horizon Zero Dawn is as close to a perfect game as I played this year. Every aspect of playing this game feels expertly crafted from the combat to the exploration to the open world. Guerrilla figured out how to make everything about Horizon just feel good. There's a great variety to the weapons and enemy designs that make each killer robot dinosaur encounter feel unique in its own way. A lot of games promise all the different ways that the player can approach combat scenarios but it really feels true in Horizon. There's a vast array of weapons that allow you to go loud or go quiet, to attack from long range or short and all of the uniquely different robot designs, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, also give different twists on how each encounter needs to be approached. This all sounds like stuff you've heard before but it's put together so effectively in Horizon in a way that makes it feel special.

This is without even mentioning the world building and writing that further set Horizon apart from the countless other open world games that have come out over the last five years. The world of Horizon is so fully realized and manages to find new ground in a post-apocalyptic setting that is usually played out. The world manages to both feel familiar and new, creating a diverse new world with pieces of the old scattered throughout. Add that to the incredible presentation from the visuals to the voice acting and Horizon Zero Dawn is truly the total package.

2. Night in the Woods

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Night in the Woods is the game with the most to say in 2017. Throughout the fairly brief playtime of this cute looking platformer starring a cast of anthropomorphic animals, there are statements about suburban America, capitalism and sexuality all tied together by the strength of the interpersonal relationships shared between a fully realized cast of characters. As unassuming as the game may look on its surface, Night in the Woods has some of the most mature and genuine writing that you’ll find in any game, regardless of year. The friendships of Mae, Gregg and Bea feel real in a way that I’ve never seen in other games. It’s a cast of characters that clearly care about each other but sometimes have trouble expressing it and have grown apart for various reasons.

Throughout the game, the characters come together to strengthen these relationships, sometimes through sharing a simple joke together and other times through uncovering a secret murderous cult secretly operating in their hometown. Though the scope of the story does expand near the end of the game, the most effecting and memorable parts of Night in the Woods are the simpler, honest moments between friends and the heartfelt messages of self-realization at its core. Growing up is hard and Night in the Woods knows the unique challenges that come with growing up in the world today. It completely nails the feelings of isolation of becoming an adult in the internet age as well as the emotional toll that personal failure can take on psyche of young adults. Together, it’s one of the most intensely personal and memorable games in years.

1. Pyre

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Pyre feels like a game specifically made for me. A game with the structure of The Banner Saga, one of my favorite games of the last five years, and the attention to detail in the presentation synonymous with Supergiant Games. That there’s also a sports game element in there that’s some weird cosmic amalgamation of basketball and rugby that is super fun to play feels like an added bonus. The real star of Pyre, however, is its master class of world building. The purgatory world of Downside is so fully fleshed out and bursting at the seams with so many interesting characters that it’s impossible not to find yourself lost in it all. While the colors of Downside are bright and vibrant, the beings within it are filled with shades of grey. Everyone in Downside has been outcast from society for one reason or another and the villains they face are largely internal, coming to grips with guilt and grief in their own personal ways.

Pyre is a game about letting go in both the way that characters try to move on from their past and in a more literal sense of letting your teammates earn their place back in society, leaving behind Downside. The Rites, where characters win their way out of the Downside, present some extremely tough choices as the onus is put on you to decide who deserves their freedom. I even found myself contemplating throwing a match to let someone on the opposite side leave the Downside, just because I found their story so convincing.

There are so moving parts within the story of Pyre that it seems impossible that two people would play the game and end up with the same story. The diversity of the stories told mean that almost everyone will also walk away with a different favorite character and a different story that resonated most with them. There were so many great narratives told in games this year but the sheer volume and depth of the stories of Pyre set it a cut above everything else and make it a truly special and enduring experience.

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