"2017 has been one of the best gaming years" - Yay or nay?

[Bedinsis]

I didn't purchase any titles released this year, I mostly stick around here to watch Yahtzee's reviews, and because this site used to host content that discusses media.

My perspective is therefore limited by how games look as a non player and how the reception has been. From this perspective Cuphead was released, it's quite an artistic achievement and even Swedish public broadcasting television covered it, so from my perspective it looked like a winner. Also, Nintendo had a good launch year for their weird hybrid console, with accompanying titles that *look* exciting, and I've even seen someone bring one along on the bus on my daily commute, so it has been a good year.

I say this fully acknowledging that my perspective frankly is worthless with regards to determining actual quality of the games released this year.

 

[Gergar12_v1legacy]

Nay. 2016 had better games. One of which is Dark Souls 3.

 

[Silvanus]

Bayonetta was okay. Devil May Cry 3 was a lot better.

Bayonetta 2 was 2014, and there hasn't been another one since.

By the way, I wanna let whichever Escapist it is that keeps making Giantbomb accounts in response to my posts know that his rage only makes me stronger.

Jesus. The impotent rage.

 

[Trunkage]

Nay. 2016 had better games. One of which is Dark Souls 3.

I thought DS3 was regarded as the worst in the series. Well there you go

 

[Mcgeezaks]

RE7 was just OutLast: Youtube Bait

How was it like Outlast? The only people I see comparing it to Outlast are people who watched 5 minutes of gameplay and never got further than that.

 

[Zombie Proof]

It's been a phenomenal year for me. Especially since my GOTY RE7 brought the series right back to where it needs to be. I went through it several times, got every unlockable, and am currently going through the dlc's (Uncle Joe is no joke son) and I'm loving those as well.

My GOTY runner up is Hollow Knight and it's one of the greatest metroidvanias I've played in years (for context my faves are Metroid Fusion, SOTN, Aquaria, and Valdis Story: Abyssal City). The gameplay is smooth like butter, the visuals and character designs are a treat, and the music is some of the best I've heard since Ari Pulkinnen's Trine 2 score. Just a brilliant brilliant game.

Honorable mention goes to Prey. I hate the way Dishonored feels so I was pretty apathetic to it until I tried the demo. Once I did I brought it immediately. Just when you think you've gotten a gist of the emergent gameplay opportunities available, more open up. It's a pretty amazing experience.

Not to mention Diablo III's Necro dropped

It's been a pretty great year for me.

 

[Zombie Proof]

RE7 was just OutLast: Youtube Bait

How was it like Outlast? The only people I see comparing it to Outlast are people who watched 5 minutes of gameplay and never got further than that.

His comment is so devoid of reality that it isn't even worth engaging. This was obviously written by a person anxious to seem edgy by being reductive and blase. Typical Forum Jockey fare hahahaha.

 

[RonHiler]

A big "Nay" for me. The two games I was hyped for ("Assassin's Creed: Origins" and "Agents of Mayhem") both turned out to be duds as far as I was concerned.

That makes this year a worse year than years in which I was apathetic about any games released (see 2015, 2016). At least in those years I didn't care what was coming out, and was thus not disappointed.

 

[dscross]

Sonic Mania does deserve a Seriously?! Post.

It really does need you to give a reason because that game has been universally praised. It only deserves a "seriously?!" post if it was a common opinion that it's not very good. This isn't the case.

What exactly did you not like about it?

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Yay!... and nay. Horizon, Nioh, Tales of Berseria, Samurai Warriors, Uncharted. And I'll be getting Hob, A Hat in Time, Divinity 2, and Deadcells soon, too. As a single player, action/adventure type, this year has been very good to me. This year has also been lousy with lootboxes, particularly the latter half, and that's a disgusting stain that don't wash off.

 

[juanstrong]

When you say stuff like Cuphead is just some niche single indie game, say Breath of the Wild and Mario and Odyssey are just more of the same, and get frazzled when I bring up Sonic Mania ("SERIOUSLY?!"), it's hard to take your post seriously.

At least give good reasons.

Cuphead is a niche game. Its a boss-run platform bullet-hell shooter with a 20s cartoon art style. That's pretty damn niche.
Breath of the Wild and Odyssey are Zelda and Mario games, and Sonic Mania does deserve a Seriously?! Post.
Those are all perfectly valid responses. They don't detract from your personal experiences, but encapsulates commonly held or at least known criticisms of repetition, stagnation, predictability, blind defense and forget-ability.

You're not giving Cuphead enough credit. It's a game that's gotten critical reception, has good depth, and it sold a million copies in the first month. Yet for some reason, it's "niche".

And then we have Breath of the Wild and Zelda, which are Mario and Zelda games, but do more than be *just* another Mario game. And you still haven't given any valid reason about your Sonic Mania response.

 

[marioandsonic]

That depends on what you're asking.

As far as the actual games go, it's hard to say that 2017 wasn't a fantastic year. Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Sonic Mania, Cuphead, Nier: Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn, Persona 5, Resident Evil 7...and that's just off the top of my head. There was something for almost every type of gamer in 2017.

But, as far as the game industry goes, 2017 was absolute shit. Jim sterling said it best when he described 2017 as the Year of the Lootbox, and I couldn't agree more. All of the corporate side of the industry just seemed to keep making one stupid and/or greedy decision after another.

 

[Potjeslatinist]

It had its highs and lows, but apart from PUBG and Cuphead (both pretty great), I haven't been interested in a single game released this year (I spent a mint this year on older games though). Combined with the AAA-industry setting new benchmarks for scumminess, I fail to see how it can possibly be one of the best years.

But if you guys enjoyed it, more power to you, and I wish you all a fine holiday season as well.

 

[Rangaman]

Nay. 2016 had better games. One of which is Dark Souls 3.

I thought DS3 was regarded as the worst in the series. Well there you go

I'm pretty sure DeS and DS1 are the only games that haven't been called "worst in the series". Some say BB is the worst because it's not as deep or complex as Dark Souls, some say DS3 is the worst because it borrows too much from DS1 and some say DS2 is the worst because it's DS2.

Though, while I don't hate DS3, it's definitely not that good.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

I'd call it a pretty standard year for gaming. Nothing exceptional and more of the dodgy industry practices we all know to be shameless cash grabs aimed at the uninformed and overly wealthy.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Again, how? Name any other form of entertainment that's cheaper than video gaming.

Reading...1 quid a book second-hand and they usually last around 10 hours +

 

[The Abhorrent]

Definitely yes if you like Japanese games, not sure about it if you only play western games.

This more or less sums it up.

Japanese games are having a huge resurgence, and Nintendo alone put forth TWO landmark titles in their flagship franchises (Zelda and Mario of course).

... but for western games, it's been a monstrous train-wreck. Particularly for the "cash cow franchises". Then again, quite a few people are probably just itching for the chance to dance on EA's grave (if likely prematurely) for their long-standing abuses of the systems; while it may hurt the industry in the short term, it's nice to see it all come crashing down on their heads. Heck, about damn time to be honest.

Good games make good impressions.
Trying to milk your playerbase doesn't.

Just take a look at who has been doing what, and it all makes sense.

 

[laggyteabag]

Meh.

Nothing grabbed my attention. There were a lot of games whose quality I cannot question, but barely any of them really appealed to me.

It looks like Nintendo had a great year, with Mario, Zelda, and that Mario + Rabbids game, but I don't have a Switch, so all of that just kinda of went straight by me.

Of the new games that came out this year that I did play, I either never finished them, or was disappointed in what I played.

Mass Effect, Destiny 2, PUBG, Horizon, and Shadow of War were all thoroughly meh, and I never had enough time to finish Divinity 2 or Nier.

The best games that I played this year were The Witcher 3, Uncharted 4, and Heroes of the Storm. None of those were 2017 games.

So yeah, Im just going to go with "pretty bad" - for me, at least.