We're quarter of the way through the year now and everyone is noticing that games are, on the whole, very good. Rather than the few outstanding releases that either chased the early year window or missed their holiday deadline last year, we've seen a lot of stuff that's pretty interesting to the point where some weeks there have been 3 hot titles coming out on the same day.

There have been several exceptionally good years for major gaming releases - providing innovation, quality, and sheer volume in many genres and platforms. I'd say 1997 possibly stands slightly higher than the rest for me. Fallout, MDK, Dungeon Keeper, The Last Express, Final Fantasy VII, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, Theme Hospital, Carmageddon, Blood, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Total Annihilation, Grand Theft Auto, Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Age of Empires, PaRappa the Rapper, Sid Meier's Gettysburg!, Quake II, Ultima Online, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, & Final Fantasy Tactics (as this never got an official EU/PAL release, I'm going to count it as we had to import it).

But this isn't another nostalgia post where I look back at old games and how much I enjoyed them. This is about the now and remembering to appreciate things as they arrive. It's only March and already 2017 is shaping up to be one of those exceptional years. Here's a few games that have already released (or come out in the next few days) which you'll want to grab:

Gravity Rush 2

Class struggle rarely looks this good and certainly doesn't involve playing with gravity in the real world.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Horror games in the AAA space return with a series that had lost its way (I'll give 5 a pass but really 4 was the last good title and only on Wii for the control fixes) but found something new from moving to first person and offering a complete VR experience.

Tales of Berseria

Another Tales game but with some interesting characters to bring the series back to relevance.

Yakuza 0

Sega jump back to 1988 and a time of plenty in Tokyo. Despite being a cross-generation title (two years ago this was released on PS3 in Japan but only just got localised) this looks ok and has a lot of flavour in which to get immersed.

Nioh

Not really my sort of game, but I include it as enough friends have dived into it and found their Dark Souls itch being well scratched.

Horizon: Zero Dawn

A stunning location built on top of enough tech to make a rising moon or weather system into something to just sit back and watch. A few years ago, this would have passed as pre-rendered. There's also an RPG with plenty of action there for when you can drag yourself away from just enjoying the landscapes.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

There's nothing quite like a throwback RPG leaning on the dialogue-heavy excellence of Planescape: Torment.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Nintendo have finally played Morrowind. Also there's lots of puzzle rooms and some slightly updated mechanics beyond that old Elder Scrolls title without becoming the drab design that modern ES titles descended into. Oh, and Prince Sidon [x] shivering smol Gerudo Link.

Atelier Firis

Even the 18th instalment of the series, this is friendship and character that some other RPGs seemed to be missing this year.

Nier: Automata

Machines given life and all the complexity of emotion while not being stand-ins for discussing just humans; on top of a totally serviceable Platinum shooter/action system; with some glorious decaying scenery and a camera that knows how to frame it to keep things exciting.

Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Ok, this doesn't sit well with this list. It's not a GotY contender. But it's also regularly not bad if you come for the scenery and the feel of landing arcing bullet trajectories as the light starts to flood in at the break of dawn.

Persona 5

Another title arriving on the list via a localisation delay, Persona finally returns after an eternity away (yes, P4 really was a PS2 title) with a soundtrack and interface that's dripping in style.