I know it is not quite over, but looking at the upcoming releases and there is really nothing coming out that interests me enough to hold back this year-end round up. So hold on to your butts folks this post is gonna be long.
THE YEAR IN GAMING:
So first I want to go over the year in general before I get to my top and bottom five games of the year. 2017 was a very very good year for video games we had some incredible releases, and despite a bit of industry bullshit, the year overall was pretty fucking sweet.
First let's talk about the good:
1. To my surprise the Switch turned out to be a pretty good system with some solid games on it. Sadly the third party offerings on the system are still basically ports and we've yet to see anything original and great, but having played a lot of my Switch on business trips I do have high hopes for the system.
2. Going along with console launches, Microsoft finally dropped the Xbox One X which seems to be a much better Xbox system overall. Hopefully Microsoft can back a good system up with some good games because if you just take the XBone library into account, there is little reason to actually pick up an X still. But hey, a good console is a good console no matter what right?
3. Games Games Games! God there were some fantastic games this year. Hell even the ones that I don't consider absolutely stealler were still pretty damn good.
Now for the bad:
1. Loot boxes. I mean really? These fucking things were in sooo many games that it is fucking stupid. Most of the games are completely broken because of them. Call of Duty, Battlefront 2, Shadow of War, AC Origins, on and on. Holy fuck people stop buying this shit would ya?
2. Nintendo doesn't want you money. Oh yeah I mean the Switch is great, but if you wanted one early this year to play Zelda....well good fucking luck. Top that off with TWO emulator mini consoles that were so short supplied the average cost of ownership requires a second fucking morgage on your house. I get that Nintendo might be unsure of how many units they sold, but you'd think after seeing how crazy the first batch went they'd....I dunno... MAKE MORE!? On top of that they didn't make enough of the SECOND console! How do you literally screw up three times for the exact same thing in the exact same year?
3. Fuck EA. Just on principal.
Now that is out of the way let's talk top and bottom 5 games of the year for me.
Let's start at the bottom of the barrel in my opinion. Now I know you guys are probably gonna hate this list, but keep one thing in mind. These are games that I actively disliked, but not necessarily bad games. They either were un-fun, genuinely bad, or other reasons *cough cough lootboxes cough*.
NUMBER 5: The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Oh boy I can hear the rage coming towards me already. Let me explain though. BotW is the most un-fun thing I have ever played. Not just un-fun, but ANTI-fun. Everything in the game seems custom-made to fucking annoy me. From rapidly breaking weapons, to a vast boring world that is too much hassle to actually traverse, to the samey shrines that are the only thing breaking up the boring exploration, everything in this game annoyed me. I hate it, and I hate that everyone loves it but I can't figure out why. Look at the end of the day if you enjoyed BotW, that's fantastic and if you think it deserves GOTY, then by all means put it on your list. But I couldn't STAND this game.
NUMBER 4: Shadow of War
Man this one sucks for me to have it here. I honestly had a lot of fun with this game at first. Then the grind started and the fucking shop taunted me the entire time. Shadow of War broke down too quickly into a repetitive slog for me to continue much beyond the second act. Technically this isn't a bad game, it's got great combat, great graphics, and everything works. It just doesn't stay fun for very long as it stays too samey for too long. A big fat 'MEH".
NUMBER 3: South Park The Fractured But Whole
God I was hyped for this game. But going on the theme with this year's bottom list, this game was just disappointing. While the combat is a big step up from the Stick of Truth, everything else is far below the bar set by the first game. The Story is lame, the jokes don't land 99% of the time, the exploration isn't as unique or fun, and the environment puzzles are stupid.
NUMBER 2: Call of Duty WWII
It's CoD. It's a stupid CoD. With Loot boxes. The characters suck, the story sucks. Can we have Infinity Ward back please? No? Well Fuck you Activision.
NUMBER 1: Agents of Mayhem
A game so bland, boring and dumb that I fucking forget it exists. I literally fucking forgot this game until I started writing this post. Like....how do you go from the awesome Saint's Row games to this? This is the kind of Saturday morning cartoon knock off bullshit that would make me go to me weekend homework instead of watching it. Stay away from this game at all costs. It isn't worth anyone's time, even on sale....or free.
Well now that that's out of the way. Let's get to the good stuff....actually let's get to the truly GREAT stuff.
NUMBER 5: Pyre
Looking for something unique? Look no further than this fantasy visual novel basketball game. I mean Pyre is hard to describe really, but it is fantastic as one would expect from the guys behind Bastion and Transistor. The Art is stunning, the music is great, and fantasy basketball is a lot of fun. Plus it is a fairly short experience so you don't have to get invested by a 100+ hour open world experience, or an RPG. Speaking of which.....
NUMBER 4: Persona 5
Regular anime high school folks get involved in a demon realm where they find they have the ability to change evil people for the "better" in the real world by kicking their demon-version's ass. Sounds crazy? Well yeah it is. Crazy and great. Persona is already a cult favorite series and this was the first game I've played. I'm looking forward to trying the older Persona's when I get time, because this game was a blast. The game just oozes style from everywhere, the menu, the battle screen, the music, the characters, everything has a style and that style is badass. The only down side is how fucking LONG this game is, and it falters a little with anime episode filler. But otherwise fantastic.
NUMBER 3: Resident Evil 7
I've been a fan of the RE series every since the first one on Playstation 1. The first four games were great, then for some reason RE went batshit crazy and made 5 and 6 which were shit. Then Resident Evil decided to go 1st person, and it is the first game that actively scared the fucking shit out of me. So much so that I could only play in 30 minute spurts for the first few hours of the game. God this is a fantastic new direction for RE as a series and I hope they don't fuck it up in the next game. Seven isn't perfect though, and it falls back on becoming a little too action heavy in the last act, but the first 2/3rd's of the game are so good that it doesn't matter. Welcome Home RE.
NUMBER 2: Nioh
Man I have been fighting back and forth between Number 1 and 2 on this list. But ultimately Nioh falls to the Number 2 slot. If you are unaware Nioh is a Samurai Dark Souls-like game. It's much faster than Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but those or the best comparisons to Nioh. Actually think Dark Souls with a Diablo loot system. I love loot systems (not lootboxes) man and Nioh's is fantastic. The way items work there is far more diversity in building and maximizing a character than anything the Souls series ever could offer. I really hope we see more of these better Souls-like evolutions and less of shit like The Surge and Lords of the Fallen.
NUMBER 1: Horizon Zero Dawn
There isn't a damn thing about this game that isn't fucking perfect. The open world is great, large but not too large and filled with just enough to do that it all feels doable with feeling overwhelming. The story is wonderfully clever and while it is just a post-apoc story, it's unique storyline is just great. Fighting robot dinosaurs is amazing, breaking off pieces to weaken them and collect extra supplies is a nice touch. Aloy has a stupid name, but is a good character with a fun story arc herself. The side quests are all interesting (if not as well written as Witcher 3 stuff, but nothing is so can't compare them really). Horizon is the only game this year (except Nioh) that kept me thinking about it all year long. Considering it came out in February that's quite a feat, especially in the year of video games we've had.
HONERABLE MENTIONS:
The following are games that I had a shit load of fun with, but just didn't quite make the Top 5 cut.
Assassin's Creed Origins - which is incredible since I haven't liked any of the AC games before this. But hey they tried to make a Witcher-lite AC game and it works. So how about that?
Mario Odyssey - The best Mario I've played in a decade at least. Great game, just not enough substance to warrant a Top 5 spot.
Tales of Berseria - Another really good RPG that came out early this year. Cool Main cast, fun combat, it's a Tales game, they're pretty consistantly decent games and this one is a bit better than most.
Well that's it I think. Let me know what you thought of 2017.
THE YEAR IN GAMING:
So first I want to go over the year in general before I get to my top and bottom five games of the year. 2017 was a very very good year for video games we had some incredible releases, and despite a bit of industry bullshit, the year overall was pretty fucking sweet.
First let's talk about the good:
1. To my surprise the Switch turned out to be a pretty good system with some solid games on it. Sadly the third party offerings on the system are still basically ports and we've yet to see anything original and great, but having played a lot of my Switch on business trips I do have high hopes for the system.
2. Going along with console launches, Microsoft finally dropped the Xbox One X which seems to be a much better Xbox system overall. Hopefully Microsoft can back a good system up with some good games because if you just take the XBone library into account, there is little reason to actually pick up an X still. But hey, a good console is a good console no matter what right?
3. Games Games Games! God there were some fantastic games this year. Hell even the ones that I don't consider absolutely stealler were still pretty damn good.
Now for the bad:
1. Loot boxes. I mean really? These fucking things were in sooo many games that it is fucking stupid. Most of the games are completely broken because of them. Call of Duty, Battlefront 2, Shadow of War, AC Origins, on and on. Holy fuck people stop buying this shit would ya?
2. Nintendo doesn't want you money. Oh yeah I mean the Switch is great, but if you wanted one early this year to play Zelda....well good fucking luck. Top that off with TWO emulator mini consoles that were so short supplied the average cost of ownership requires a second fucking morgage on your house. I get that Nintendo might be unsure of how many units they sold, but you'd think after seeing how crazy the first batch went they'd....I dunno... MAKE MORE!? On top of that they didn't make enough of the SECOND console! How do you literally screw up three times for the exact same thing in the exact same year?
3. Fuck EA. Just on principal.
Now that is out of the way let's talk top and bottom 5 games of the year for me.
Let's start at the bottom of the barrel in my opinion. Now I know you guys are probably gonna hate this list, but keep one thing in mind. These are games that I actively disliked, but not necessarily bad games. They either were un-fun, genuinely bad, or other reasons *cough cough lootboxes cough*.
NUMBER 5: The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Oh boy I can hear the rage coming towards me already. Let me explain though. BotW is the most un-fun thing I have ever played. Not just un-fun, but ANTI-fun. Everything in the game seems custom-made to fucking annoy me. From rapidly breaking weapons, to a vast boring world that is too much hassle to actually traverse, to the samey shrines that are the only thing breaking up the boring exploration, everything in this game annoyed me. I hate it, and I hate that everyone loves it but I can't figure out why. Look at the end of the day if you enjoyed BotW, that's fantastic and if you think it deserves GOTY, then by all means put it on your list. But I couldn't STAND this game.
NUMBER 4: Shadow of War
Man this one sucks for me to have it here. I honestly had a lot of fun with this game at first. Then the grind started and the fucking shop taunted me the entire time. Shadow of War broke down too quickly into a repetitive slog for me to continue much beyond the second act. Technically this isn't a bad game, it's got great combat, great graphics, and everything works. It just doesn't stay fun for very long as it stays too samey for too long. A big fat 'MEH".
NUMBER 3: South Park The Fractured But Whole
God I was hyped for this game. But going on the theme with this year's bottom list, this game was just disappointing. While the combat is a big step up from the Stick of Truth, everything else is far below the bar set by the first game. The Story is lame, the jokes don't land 99% of the time, the exploration isn't as unique or fun, and the environment puzzles are stupid.
NUMBER 2: Call of Duty WWII
It's CoD. It's a stupid CoD. With Loot boxes. The characters suck, the story sucks. Can we have Infinity Ward back please? No? Well Fuck you Activision.
NUMBER 1: Agents of Mayhem
A game so bland, boring and dumb that I fucking forget it exists. I literally fucking forgot this game until I started writing this post. Like....how do you go from the awesome Saint's Row games to this? This is the kind of Saturday morning cartoon knock off bullshit that would make me go to me weekend homework instead of watching it. Stay away from this game at all costs. It isn't worth anyone's time, even on sale....or free.
Well now that that's out of the way. Let's get to the good stuff....actually let's get to the truly GREAT stuff.
NUMBER 5: Pyre
Looking for something unique? Look no further than this fantasy visual novel basketball game. I mean Pyre is hard to describe really, but it is fantastic as one would expect from the guys behind Bastion and Transistor. The Art is stunning, the music is great, and fantasy basketball is a lot of fun. Plus it is a fairly short experience so you don't have to get invested by a 100+ hour open world experience, or an RPG. Speaking of which.....
NUMBER 4: Persona 5
Regular anime high school folks get involved in a demon realm where they find they have the ability to change evil people for the "better" in the real world by kicking their demon-version's ass. Sounds crazy? Well yeah it is. Crazy and great. Persona is already a cult favorite series and this was the first game I've played. I'm looking forward to trying the older Persona's when I get time, because this game was a blast. The game just oozes style from everywhere, the menu, the battle screen, the music, the characters, everything has a style and that style is badass. The only down side is how fucking LONG this game is, and it falters a little with anime episode filler. But otherwise fantastic.
NUMBER 3: Resident Evil 7
I've been a fan of the RE series every since the first one on Playstation 1. The first four games were great, then for some reason RE went batshit crazy and made 5 and 6 which were shit. Then Resident Evil decided to go 1st person, and it is the first game that actively scared the fucking shit out of me. So much so that I could only play in 30 minute spurts for the first few hours of the game. God this is a fantastic new direction for RE as a series and I hope they don't fuck it up in the next game. Seven isn't perfect though, and it falls back on becoming a little too action heavy in the last act, but the first 2/3rd's of the game are so good that it doesn't matter. Welcome Home RE.
NUMBER 2: Nioh
Man I have been fighting back and forth between Number 1 and 2 on this list. But ultimately Nioh falls to the Number 2 slot. If you are unaware Nioh is a Samurai Dark Souls-like game. It's much faster than Dark Souls or Bloodborne, but those or the best comparisons to Nioh. Actually think Dark Souls with a Diablo loot system. I love loot systems (not lootboxes) man and Nioh's is fantastic. The way items work there is far more diversity in building and maximizing a character than anything the Souls series ever could offer. I really hope we see more of these better Souls-like evolutions and less of shit like The Surge and Lords of the Fallen.
NUMBER 1: Horizon Zero Dawn
There isn't a damn thing about this game that isn't fucking perfect. The open world is great, large but not too large and filled with just enough to do that it all feels doable with feeling overwhelming. The story is wonderfully clever and while it is just a post-apoc story, it's unique storyline is just great. Fighting robot dinosaurs is amazing, breaking off pieces to weaken them and collect extra supplies is a nice touch. Aloy has a stupid name, but is a good character with a fun story arc herself. The side quests are all interesting (if not as well written as Witcher 3 stuff, but nothing is so can't compare them really). Horizon is the only game this year (except Nioh) that kept me thinking about it all year long. Considering it came out in February that's quite a feat, especially in the year of video games we've had.
HONERABLE MENTIONS:
The following are games that I had a shit load of fun with, but just didn't quite make the Top 5 cut.
Assassin's Creed Origins - which is incredible since I haven't liked any of the AC games before this. But hey they tried to make a Witcher-lite AC game and it works. So how about that?
Mario Odyssey - The best Mario I've played in a decade at least. Great game, just not enough substance to warrant a Top 5 spot.
Tales of Berseria - Another really good RPG that came out early this year. Cool Main cast, fun combat, it's a Tales game, they're pretty consistantly decent games and this one is a bit better than most.
Well that's it I think. Let me know what you thought of 2017.