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Artso

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GOTY 2017

*This year was insane for games, not only the quality but also the amount of great games. This was the year that I finally bought a PS4 Pro but I have not yet played any Switch games. I feel confident that any game between positions 1-6 on this list could easily win game of the year any weaker year.

**Japan (never left but) is officially back making unique games that we love but now more than ever they seem like better playing videogames!

Games I didn't get around to but want to play during 2018:

  • Yakuza: Kiwami
  • Nioh
  • Observer
  • Horizon: Zero Dawn
  • Pyre
  • Uncharted: Lost Legacy
  • Assassin's Creed: Origins
  • Prey
  • What Remains of Edith Finch
  • Persona 5
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • ++more

Games released 2017 that didn't make the list:

  • Resident Evil 7 (Didn't play enough. After a few hours it seems like a great game)
  • Ruiner (Didn't play enough for it to make my list. Easily one of the coolest games I played this year. Think Hotline Miami levels of cool with great music and incredible art)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of War (I really really loved the Nemesis system of Shadow of Mordor and spent hours fighting orcs. This game seems to do it all bigger and better but with that comes too much filler and some choices the developers made seem bad. I haven't played this game enough to put it on my list but I suspect that I will continue to enjoy it)
  • Night in the Woods (Really loved the art, the music, the bass minigame, many of the characters but the game dragged on and the story could have been better)
  • NHL 18
  • Okami HD (One of my favorite games return in a higher resolution on a modern console. This would easily be high on my list but that seems unfair. I am looking forward to playing more Okami during 2018)
  • Ultimate Chicken Horse
  • ++more

Old games I really enjoyed this year:

  • Alien: Isolation (This game is a masterpiece and could have been my game of the year if released this year)
  • House of the Dying Sun (Probably the coolest game I played all year)

Hearthstone category of 2017:

  • Hearthstone (I still keep playing this game and I really enjoyed the new expansion but at this point I'm not sure there is much Blizzard can do to get me playing this game as much as I used to)

Best music of 2017 and custom fitted for this game (not tacked on):

List items

  • Last year (2016) was the year I started playing fighting games seriously. I had always been intimidated and fascinated by their complexity. Last year I spent over 300 hours in Street Fighter V and ended up giving it the 2nd spot on my GOTY list.

    Unfortunately that game is no longer interesting to me and I rarely play it. Tekken had always seemed too crazy and too difficult for me to get into and it was with hesitation that I bought Tekken on Steam during the launch. Everyone seemed to love Tekken 7 but I was somewhat unsure about fighting games at this point.

    The PC version of Tekken 7 turned out to be an incredible game and I have spent around 200 hours playing it. Forget all the things that Tekken 7 got right that SFV did not and forget the fact that the PC version of a major fighting game for once was the premium version. Tekken 7 is well-made and it shows in the graphics, the crazily detailed animations, the online structure but most of all in the gameplay. I have tried many characters and want to learn many more because every character seems to have at least a few things that are powerful or just straight up fun.

    I can't believe that this was the year that I learned Tekken and it finally made sense to me. I know how to Korean backdash (somewhat)! I know okizeme, how to block low and punish, how to low parry and so on. The list of things I don't know is much much longer but I can't wait to learn more.

    Tekken 7 was the game I could always return to this year, the game I could play for 5 minutes and learn something new in the lab, or hop online and play deathmatches for hours and hours. That is why Tekken 7 is my game of the year for 2017.

  • Speaking of fighting games the Yakuza series also used to belong to the category of games that I've been fascinated with but haven't given a chance. This changed when I finally bought a PS4 this year and Yakuza 0.

    Yakuza 0 is almost a perfect game in my mind. It starts off with a bang, the story is intense while keeping you guessing but what Yakuza 0 does best is intertwine these serious moments with goofy and funny ones.

    Yakuza 0 has one of the most interesting and detailed worlds to explore that I have ever seen in a video game. There is so much to do, everything from drinking and learning about different whiskies while playing dart or pool, playing fairly complex rhythm games like karaoke or disco dancing, managing a hostess club in real time while making sure the guests and the girls have a good time, buying and selling real estate, running errands and trying to find just the right convenience store that sells the batteries some stranger wants, teaching a timid dominatrix how to unlock her full potential and so on. All this together with a full fighting game with two different characters and an incredibly intense and cool story.

    I can't wait to play more Yakuza 0. This seems like the year when Yakuza games finally got polished and main stream enough for them to be games for everyone. But at the same time the series did not lose its quirks or charm, in fact the changes seem to have enhanced them.

    Next year I can play Yakuza: Kiwami, Yakuza 6 and Yakuza: Kiwami 2. This is the best time to be playing video games.

    Run out and buy Yakuza 0 and if you have already then tell everyone you know to play it. It is easily one of the best games released in 2017.

  • I went into BotW without hype or expectations and the game really didn't click with me for the first few hours. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it but the starting plateau did not make me understand why everyone was raving about this game.

    The game doesn't lead you by the hand, it doesn't teach you or show you all of the incredible things it has to offer. But I would not want it any other way. Having left the plateau and spent a few more hours I could already see why this might be the best Zelda ever made. Never before have you been able to explore a Zelda world like this. Never before have we seen a video game world as magical and intriguing as this one. This is a very different Zelda game and I applaud the developers for their bravery.

    It speaks volumes of the year in games that this is not my favorite game of 2017. There is plenty to read about why BotW is such an achievement but do me a favor and simply play it. And if not, google "zelda botw 46 tiny mind-blowing details" and you will believe me. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is not only one of the greatest games of the year 2017 but it might be one of the best games ever made. I believe it will continue to be regarded as such for a long time to come.

  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was one of the most intense and memorable experiences I had playing videogames in 2017.

    The game lets the player experience psychosis ("a severe mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality"). The idea to use a videogame to convey a mental disorder that affects how the person views the world is genius but the way Ninja Theory does it is remarkable.

    Hellblade is one of the best looking games I have ever played, the performance by Melina Juergens is incredible and makes Senua feel like a real person. This is vital to telling Senua's story which is the whole point of the game.

    But it doesn't stop there. Hellblade plays with lighting, audio, music and visual effects in a way that few games manage or even attempt. The voices in her head help her, trick her, taunt her or encourage her. They are a vital part of gameplay and making you feel like a person with mental illness.

    The moment where Senua finally stands up for herself and her loved ones near the end is one of my most memorable moments of 2017. The story had been building for that moment and the music is also a big part of why it is so powerful.

    The Beast boss battle is one of the coolest and unique boss battles I have ever faced because of how it plays with light. It made the battle intense and a harrowing experience, just like it was meant to be. Words cannot make it justice, it is something that has to be experienced.

    The puzzles are not talked about enough, sure they are simple but they are really clever and designed in a way that could not be replicated in another medium that is not visual and interactive. Again you have to see it for yourself.

    There are definetly flaws in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, there is a little too much combat and at times it can be a bit simple (but there are more mechanics than meets the eye for the player that is willing to experiment). Some sections are tedious and could have been removed.

    But these flaws do not change the fact that Hellblade is one of the most intense and powerful experiences you can have playing a videogame, a visual and audio experience no other medium could have pulled off.

    I am really happy that a videogame that highlights mental illness is so well-made and great to play. The whole point of the game is that mental illness is not something you can defeat with a strong will, it is not something that goes away but you can learn to handle it and grow stronger.

    (Sidenote: I would have preferred the game to be called Senua's Sacrifice or Senua because it is about Senua)

  • THE ART.

    THE MUSIC.

    HOW FUN AND CHALLENGING IT IS TO PLAY CO-OP.

    THE ART. AGAIN. WOW.

    Cuphead is another example of how great videogames can be in 2017 and does things that could not be done in another medium (in fact it takes another medium and uses it as the playground).

    The controls are tight, the level design amazing and clever, the bosses are some of the most ingenious I have ever seen and the game is challenging in the right way. The game constantly has you dropping your jaw on the floor while keeping you playing because each try you learn something new.

    The time you are the size of a mouse and a cat breaks through the wall, the time the tugboat suddenly spits a ball at you, every screen in this game makes you shout out how incredible it looks and how clever the mechanics are.

    To me this is videogame perfection. Add amazing art and music and you have one of the best games of 2017.

  • Do you like Psychonauts? (one of my favorite games of all time)

    Do you like Super Mario Sunshine? Or parts of Super Mario Sunshine that feels like Galaxy?

    Then you will love A Hat in Time!

    But the game is so much more than that. Contrary to Psychonauts it plays really well, the movement is great because it gives you so many options and the level design is really fun. The graphics feel like they were designed to remind you of Psychonauts but because of how the passage of time works they look so much better.

    The murder mystery on the train-level is one of my favorite levels in a long time. The same goes for the mountain level which is very large and where you can ride the zipline to whatever part you want to explore next. Finally the "hidden" levels with floating platforms that remind me of Mario Sunshine or Galaxy are some of the most fun I've played this year.

    Add a great look, some really funny writing, great characters and an awesome soundtrack and you have one of the best games of the year. A Hat in Time is colorful and simply fun to play.

  • I have never enjoyed golf games. I have played many of them but always ended up getting bored. Enter Everybody's Golf. Finally we have a golf game with great golf physics that is challenging but not too hard. There are many mechanics and depending on mood you can choose to engage with them or not.

    Everybody's golf was a game I could always return to, to relax and have a break, to cleanse my palate and reset. This easily makes it one of the best games of 2017.

  • Contrary to most people I enjoyed the first Nier but I admit it did have flaws and I did not end up exploring all of its content because of that.

    Enter NieR: Automata, a game that finally seems to give Yoko Taro all the tools he needs to express himself and show off his craziness. Unfortunately I have only seen ending A and gone a bit further meaning that I have not yet seen all the craziness that people are talking about.

    I enjoyed playing NieR: Automata this year and will continue to play it next year. Because I did not spend enough time with it I cannot be sure if it belongs on a higher rung of my game of the year list.

  • While FIFA continues to be FIFA, PES 18 has a slower pace and a more rewarding style of play. It actually feels like you have to think about your plays, positioning and any mistake can cost you a goal.

    PES rewards playing defense, has more tactical options and is just a more fun football game to play with a friend.

  • I loved the first Nidhogg and played it a lot in local co-op. At first I did not enjoy the new look the second game had to offer but it grew on me and now I enjoy it more than the first.

    That together with more weapons, more awesome levels and one of the best soundtracks of the year is enough to make it one of the best couch co-op experiences of 2017.
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