Wilsown's Top 10 (And 1) Games of 2017

This year has been unique not only for the number of great games released but also that I was lucky to have the time to play (some of) them. In celebration, I wanted to finally write something about said games and arbitrarily order them, while throwing in an extra one for good measure. I decided to use the “And 1” as a spot for a game that either might not have otherwise made the list due to a technicality (an expansion, remaster, early access etc.) or just something I think is flawed or rough but wanted to highlight anyway. I also included novelty awards at the beginning for all the other games I played this year but didn’t rank in case you were thinking “did you play _________________?”. Either way I’m sure I will get around to more 2017 games at some point because of how loaded a year this was. So here’s to 2017, in gaming at least, and it’s ongoing legacy.

[Edited 5/13/18 adding seven novelty awards (from Tacoma down) and putting Yakuza 0 at #6, moving the games below it down and knocking What Remains of Edith Finch from #10 (sorry)]

Novelty Awards

The “Wow, I actually have to brake” award: 200cc mode in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

Best (only?) PS+ game: Disc Jam

Best Videogame Shotgun™: Prey

The “Now that’s what I call multiplayer support” award: Splatoon 2

Best movement progression: SteamWorld Dig 2

The “You bet I watched all those old cutscenes” award: Tekken 7: Fated Retribution

The turkey dinner award: Fortnite: Battle Royale

Best game I didn’t finish: Nioh

Okayest game I didn’t finish: South Park: The Fractured but Whole

The "barely the weirdest Mario game this year" award: Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle

Most loot: Destiny 2

Best “That's my boy”: Madden NFL 18: Longshot

The “Hey, that Paris mission’s alright” award: Call of Duty: WWII

Most wholesome: Battle Chef Brigade

The "Druth, you da real MVP” award: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Best use of the Looking Glass Code: Tacoma

Hardest cut from the list award: What Remains of Edith Finch

Best pizza party: Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

The “Can we call more games ‘shorts’?” award: Subsurface Circular

Easiest tune to catch yourself whistling: “A Red Apple Fell From The Sky” from Gravity Rush 2

No wait, actual easiest tune to catch yourself whistling: "Your Reality" from Doki Doki Literature Club!

Best use of laudanum: Dishonored: Death of the Outsider

And 1. Life is Strange: Before the Storm

This game ends up fitting this extraneous category since technically, that bonus episode is not out at the time of this writing and I’m having to render an opinion pretty soon after playing episode three [editor's note: That bonus episode is wonderful though I see why it's just there as a bonus. I still feel about the same on the main game]. However, I like the original Life is Strange so much that there was little chance in hella (sorry) I wasn’t going to have some thoughts about this game anyway.

I was pleasantly surprised how they managed to really get the Chloe and Rachel relationship so well just like how Max and Chloe worked so well previously. The soundtrack keeps tradition too by being similarly awesome. Still though, I didn’t think it would matter so much going in but the time travel aspect of the original really did add to it in a way that it feels like the prequel is missing something. Though there are obvious story reasons not to go back to time travel, the “strangeness" that this story tries to do wasn’t quite enough for me. And, while the dialogue has always been its own brand of awkward, I feel like something with the voice acting and direction outside of Chloe and Rachel could be real inconsistent and broke the immersion too frequently.

But, you know, it’s all okay to have gotten to see this addition to Chloe’s character. While at a larger level it succeeds, I only complain about wanting the execution to be better because I care, perhaps too much. Anyway, whether I thought a prequel for one of my favorite stories in games was necessary, I quickly realized upon playing that I was still so willing to want to spend more time in this world that I was glad to sink back in. And maybe that’s enough.

Best use of “hella”: Surprisingly, not even by Chloe, but by her dad at the end. I guess we know now who to blame/thank.

10. Night in the Woods

This is little surprise to anyone familiar with this game but that dialogue is fantastic, which turns out, helps when you have a story-heavy game without voice acting. The visual style also goes a long way for itself and creates both a memorable look and a nice contrast with its more serious side. It may not have been the case for everyone, but I appreciated the turn for the strange that this game’s story takes towards the end. It throws a wrench into the cycle of walking through town every day, which, though fun to see how the little things change throughout the game, was admittedly getting repetitive.

Still, the well-crafted local flavor to Possum Springs and the interactions with your friends really became the driver for me to keep at it and I was clearly rewarded with some more dialogue. Also that Demontower game on Mae’s computer is pretty good. And crimes? Crimes.

Actual biggest unanswered question: What was behind those boxes in the crawlspace?

9. Pyre

Supergiant nailed it here by getting around the one problem I had with previous games where the story would be too inscrutable for me. By having a pretty clear plot (literally) and a wider cast of characters, I was more able to connect with what was going on in addition to admiring the visual styling consistent with the previous games. Even so, it still has tons of lore in The Book of Rites and the great contextual definitions feature help the game strike a great balance of story, world-building, and character interaction.

That’s to say nothing of the gameplay of the Rites, which offers good customization that allowed for a lot of fun combinations of teams. It scratched an itch that I had for messing around with Transistor’s systems, which I was glad to see implemented here. Though I think that Pyre sort of peaks once its structure becomes laid out for you, it’s still a strong journey to that point with a lot of smart choices that made me want to see it through. Right, there’s also that Liberation Rite song. That one’s real good.

Favorite Rites Squad: “Smallball” with Rukey, Sir Gilman, and Ti’zo

8. Super Mario Odyssey

This game is a celebratory trot around the bases of what makes Mario fun. The movement is terrific, it’s filled with diverse mechanics, and the levels are heaped with stuff to do. It also literally has its own celebration in its festival sequence that passes the test of me having a big, dumb grin on my face while playing it. This has been and will be a game that I keep coming back to because it makes itself so easy to want and play. Also, you cap-ture Bowser. I could’ve just said that and you’d understand why this game’s great.

Most ri-Donk-ulous moment: Driving towards the screen in a scooter with a T-Rex chasing you, in just the middle of a random building??

7. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Like the title of one of “J”s songs, this game has a bit of a manic depression to it. It swings back and forth between B.J.’s quiet brooding and truly over-the-top situations so quickly that it sounds jarring, but it comes together well and gives it its own style. Also, the guns are still good and dual-wielding shotguns is as silly as ever.

Really though it all comes back to that story for me and its multiple twists and turns and which ends oh-so-gratifyingly. I also liked that it kept the through line of having a base to check in on throughout, but in a way that gets the pacing better. Hopefully this entry sets things up for an even more spectacular conclusion to this era of Wolfenstein. Oh, and I’d recommend the advice of playing on easy. It minimizes any frustration and that’s the last thing that you should feel playing this.

Weird idea but: How soon until we get a combined Bethesda-published Universe (wolfenstein, dishonored, elder scrolls, doom, fallout, prey, etc.) game?

6. Yakuza 0

After seeing the Beast crew play through a few chapters, I decided I needed to see the rest for myself. Cut to me getting sucked into not only the main story but also the cabaret club, slot car races, bowling, and way too much of the real estate minigame. The game world’s well-defined sense of time and place lent it a lot of charm and the tonal blend of melodrama and silliness all combined in a way I was rarely expecting but constantly appreciating. Even after finishing it myself it was also great to go back and experience it again with the Beast crew as many of its moments (Majima’s intro d’oh) are even better seeing other’s reactions to them. This was probably my most unexpected good time with a game from this year, as much as I was already excited to play and despite waiting too long to finally do so.

Favorite Fight Style: Kiryu’s Beast Style (gotta stay on brand)

5. Cuphead

Even having had a pretty good idea of what to expect from this game, I was still so impressed. The style pretty much speaks for itself, and the gameplay ends up being hugely satisfying in working your way from the point of “Well, I’ll never beat this” to “I can’t believe I ever had trouble with that”. The light customization and parry system added a nice layer to approaching different fights, and how different these fights could be mechanically was remarkable as well. The game’s just good, old-fashioned (heh) fun.

Total death count: 369

4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Aside from a little bit of the beginning of Twilight Princess, this was actually my first Zelda game. So, while the long history of playing Zelda games leading this one is lost on me, the excellence of this entry comes through quite easily. The design of that world is the star of the show for me, and when paired with the basic toolset that it gives you I appreciated just the number of different interactions that were possible. Though the story is pretty slight, the photo mechanic was the best way to package it in order for me to want to seek those memories out. But really, the story that you’re meant to get out of this are the times that you solved a puzzle in a way that you were totally-not-supposed-to-but-actually-wait-that’s-exactly-the-point.

I often feel like there comes a point in every open world game for me where I become familiar enough with the world that I choose to just fast travel and streamline my way through the game. Though this game is no exception, I'd say that this moment came much later than any game I’ve played in years. There’s such a freedom with the movement (once you have the items and stamina, of course) that it was often preferable for me to travel everywhere on foot and I was more than happy to take my time getting to a destination, letting any measure of distraction lead me to somewhere new and cool.

Most embarrassing amount of time spent with one activity: Snow bowling for rupees

3. Persona 5

Starting with my highest endorsement, the soundtrack is seriously amazing and I can’t stop listening to it even after hearing it throughout this lengthy, lengthy game. Also, this may seem like a little thing, but having really cool menus that are super responsive actually went a long way for the kind of game this is. Pretty much anything with the styyyyyle of this game is outstanding and is the easiest to reconcile.

Meanwhile, there is the matter of the story. While it for sure has its moments, with its scope I was not shocked to see stretches of inconsistency. Despite a lot of that, I ended up getting so invested in the story and setting in a way that surprised me. I had my own outside document with a schedule, different activities sorted by social stat, and tons of other reference information in an effort to best make my way through the combat and all the bits of story that I could get. In trying to explain my unexpected reaction, I guess you could say I never saw it coming that I happened to care a lot over a five-month campaign of playing this game, especially when there were tons of other games out there vying for attention.

You could also say I'm done in trying to fundamentally explain why I value this game so much. The presentation still is superb. And for me, the story just seemed to work by generally rewarding the investment that you put in with it. I suppose I had so much liked the idea and ambition of such a large investment story-wise that I was still loving it while simultaneously wanting the execution to be better. Like how I actually think that the cast is good, but that they merely aren’t given enough interesting interactions as a group. Or moments like the casino twist that are honestly neat, but just enough off the mark to be tiresome.

At least there's one last surprise with Igor towards the end that is genuinely cool which ends with you performing the Persona equivalent of a spirit bomb to summon a demon lord to shoot a god in the face. And if that's not enough for you, simply listening to the soundtrack and admiring the menus is plenty great too.

Obligatory Best Girl: Makoto

2. Horizon Zero Dawn

There's definitely some Witcher in this one, which had me on board quickly. I think Horizon even does better with the combat and its satisfying ranged weaponry. It also makes the researching and targeting of machine weaknesses a lot more useful and cool-looking when you tear off the individual parts. I even appreciated the preparation aspect beforehand like laying traps, lining up potions, and choosing weapons and had such a blast with the action once the fight started (although real talk, the four weapon equip limit is wholly unnecessary).

The story in its central investigation of piecing together what happened to the world was, in a word, awesome. Aloy is also a great anchor around which the story does some really neat things with, from her beginnings as an outsider to her true nature, which basically makes her work as two characters. Even the gratuitous story dumps were not a problem once I found a good balance between them and the combat. When that happened, I realized I had suddenly paced the game so that I could have a (stick with me on this one) “Witcher/Far Cry in the streets, Gone Home in the sheets” type of deal. On top of all this the game’s world is entirely gorgeous, even if it is less laden with possibility. It’s not often these days that we essentially see the birth of a new franchise, and from such a substantial first outing I imagine I will be staying on board to see where they go from here.

So the sequel’s going to be called: Meridian Infinite Dusk, right?

1. NieR: Automata

For this game, the metric that I went with to judge it so highly was just how much time I spent thinking about this damn game whether I was playing it or not. Despite feeling very constructed, this world has such a feel to it that it had me spending all sorts of time trying to do everything, no matter how fetch quest-y. Though the combat is not so difficult to require any of it, the chipset system, pod programs, and different weapon combinations were still fun aspects to play around with and the hacking game, though repetitive, is at least super smooth going back and forth between it and combat. But I’m burying the lead here. What has me really thinking about this game and what is responsible for the highest of highs in gaming for me this year is the story and how the game leverages it to exceptional effect.

Whether the multiple playthroughs and repeated content worked for you is probably the biggest factor in what you think of the story. For me, I have to agree with one Austin Walker’s thought that perhaps it was because I had spent that much time with these characters and this world in A/B that it makes the lunacy of C, D, and E hit that much more. I know for me that that is where the game went from pretty great to incredible. I love whenever a story can go so many places that there is a profound sense of just “how did it all come to this?” when you are at the conclusion watching what unfolds. Putting a bow on things is the glorious soundtrack, which somehow manages to be as epic in quiet moments as it is in the most bombastic.

Said 9S in a particularly impactful moment with the soundtrack flourishing: "I'm not quite sure what it means to mourn, or even if we have a soul to concern ourselves with. But I hope you're at rest, 2B. Sweet dreams. I'll be with you before long." Its just all so good and somber and epic and silly and cool and outrageous and thoughtful and senseless and wonderful. And I love that videogames, much less one videogame, can be all of that and more.

Ending E Message: “Your growth hinges on your resolve. Now then, let’s see how this really ends.”

Thanks for reading.