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Odyssey is a masterpiece. It conjured up those old magical feelings I had as a kid playing the NES Marios and SMW for the first time. The entire game feels like it was crafted by people who grew up with the series and really, REALLY love Mario. All of the kingdoms look and sound fantastic. The levels are designed to encourage and entice you to explore every nook and cranny for those moons and have a ton of fun doing it. The exploration aspect is enhanced even more so due to the fluid, fun controls for Mario/Cappy. I could go on and on; coins actually have a purpose, the costumes are goofy and fun, the capture mechanic is a brilliant addition to the series, etc.. Even the story is pretty good! Easily the best Mario game I've played since SMW. Game of the year.
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Fantastic characters? Check. Intriguing and well executed story? Check. Japan? CHECK. Yakuza 0 introduced me to a series that I had always overlooked, but now I find myself wanting remakes of ALL of the Yakuza games. More of this please!
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AC Origins is probably my biggest surprise of 2017. I haven't played any AC since Black Flag, and I wrote off this newest installment pretty quick. However, all the positive word-of-mouth convinced me to pick it up, and I'm really glad I did. It's basically Witcher 3 + AC, and it turns out that makes for a great combination. Egypt is meticulously and gorgeously rendered, both in the architecture and in the landscapes. Origins can be kind of janky in spots like any open-world game, but both the combat and the exploration are really fun. The story is surprisingly decent (as well as the sidequests) but the real attraction is Bayek. He's a fantastic character, probably the best AC protagonist since Ezio.
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PUBG has given me some of the most tense and exciting moments in videogamin' this year, and winning those 2 solo chicken dinners felt amazing. The new desert map is pretty cool and I really like the vaulting system. Having said all that, I still think the movement and gun handling could be a lot better, and the game still needs some work in the performance department. I really wish I had people to play with, as Battlegrounds seems like it's meant to be played with friends. Still, it managed to be fun enough to get me to play close to 100 hours solo, and that's saying something for a multiplayer-only game.
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Guerilla Games has crafted an open-world, action RPG that actually has well-written, interesting characters/storylines AND has excellent combat mechanics. It also is hands down the best looking game I've played so far this gen. The only criticisms I have are: 1. The final boss fight was a little underwhelming 2. As good as the story is, I thought it had some pacing issues.
Can't wait to see the improvements GG makes for the sequel!
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Beating any Cuphead boss is INCREDIBLY satisfying (almost as satisfying as getting that first chicken dinner) in a large part owing to the difficulty but also the precise controls. When I died, I had no one to blame but myself, which pushed me to get better. Needless to say, the art direction and music is amazing and add a lot of charm and atmosphere to the game.
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Nier Automata is a really good game. The story, characters and world-building were interesting enough for me to play through all the routes and do the vast majority of the side-quests. The highlights of the story were the multiple paths and endings, and how you gain new insights into the characters, their motivations, and the world as you go through each route. The only reasons Nier doesn't rate higher are: a. As good as the story was, ultimately it came across to me as a "surprisingly good anime story"; I wasn't really all that emotionally engaged with it. b. The combat was decent, but nothing to write home about.
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Wow, what an experience! The sound design and the way the game portrays the character's psychosis is fantastic. The game just continues to get better the further you progress. I don't think I've ever played anything that made me feel this uneasy and fascinated at the same time (again, kudos to the sound design in this game, especially the Val Raven section). It also wraps up in a satisfying way. My only complaint was some of the puzzles and combat got a little too repetitive at times.
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Pyre manages to tell a great story with engaging characters AND also have a really fun game mechanic to go along with it. The Rites start off pretty easy, but towards the end I started getting my butt handed to me. What really stands out about Pyre though are the decisions you make and the repercussions that follow.
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The gameplay loop in SWD2 is very addictive. I've never been into the "digging" genre, but this game has really got something here. The controls are fantastic and make navigating the mines a real joy instead of being an annoyance. They've managed to create a world here that I wanted to explore every bit of. And the hometown music reminded me of Boards of Canada, which is awesome.
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What an extremely charming and fun experience! The turn-based gameplay is a little simplified compared to X-COM, but there's still plenty of strategy and ways to spec out your team. And I really appreciated that I could swap characters in and out and re-spec to fit the situation. The gameplay does get a little repetitive once you get to World 3, and I wish they would have used those latter worlds to introduce at least one or two more enemy types to shake things up a bit.
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Good point-and-click adventure games are hard to come by these days. The Journey Down is definitely one that everyone should play. The aesthetic is unlike anything that I've come across - a mix of cyberpunk, Jamaican characters/culture, and a goofy sense of humor. It took a while for the final chapter to come out, but it was well worth the wait!
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It's good to be back in Kamurocho! I had a great time with Kiwami, but it's definitely not up to the quality of 0, which is understandable with this being the first game in the series. The sidestories weren't as funny or detailed as 0, and the boss fights were boring slogs for the most part. Everything else (characters, main story, pocket racer!) was pretty great.
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