2017 existed as something of a holding pattern. Nothing major shattered my world and for that I suppose I should be grateful; no panic attacks, no vertigo episodes, no loss of any loved ones. In fact with a pay rise at work the year in retrospect was a positive one. The only real negative beyond world events that escape my influence would be the waiting and delays with my assessments at the gender identity clinic where issues with my blood and testosterone levels continue to drag things out. That said I am lucky to be in the position to even have such issues and with an endocrinology appointment penned in for the summer my transitioning will hopefully hit full speed soon; if my work has taught me anything it is the randomness at which life likes to take extreme measures with people.
In the world of games 2017 was something of a bumper year for me with 50 games started and finished. The list below covers all of them and in the main I got something positive from each. Even the worst experiences often have some aspect that I appreciate in isolation, and while the insidious march of psychological manipulation and gambling in games continues, the overall breadth and quality of games continues to shine brightly.
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Hollow Knight was like a little puzzle box; this mysterious and meticulously crafted object where careful manipulation and a keen eye allows one to unravel its myriad secrets. The way its cutsey gothic world expands through exploration was the highlight of my gaming year and no other experience has so beautifully built upon the Dark Souls approach to narrative through exploration before. The aesthetics are equally majestic and the combat tight and responsive.
Similarly Night in the Woods is layered in such a way to disarm then delight. Nothing hides desperate existential dread quite like the mundane routines of the everyday and the story’s slow descent into swirling emotional torment is bittersweet in its heady mix of humour and heart-break. It’s written better than anything else in 2017 and boasts some of its best characters. Games often struggle with depicting relationships but Night in the Woods is striking in its nuanced depictions.
A massive improvement over the first game in pretty much all aspects. It looks better, plays better, improved voice acting, writing, narrative, with more options for role playing than ever before. I never touched the Dungeon Master mode but it too marks another agreeable addition to Larian’s magnum opus. The only downside was that I never got to play it co-op as otherwise it ranks as one of my favourite RPGs in a long time. The level of player choice and flexibility is kind of unprecedented given its married to a proper narrative arc where the various party members have some personal stake.
I still don’t think the decision to set it in an open world was a great one, nor the decision to voice characters so appallingly, but the Zelda magic is all still there only now with everything spread out over a much wider area. There’s no doubting the majesty of this iteration of Hyrule and the many secrets it hides are enticing, the puzzles are as ever designed with thought and care whilst the variety of outfits and items is always welcome. Not a fan of the weapon degradation but the experience has more than enough wonder and awe to mitigate most of my issues.
I cannot think of a better performance in a game in 2017; the eyes, the grinding teeth, the voice…the writing might not be as elegant as I’d have hoped but the impact was quite extraordinary. Ninja Theory managed the very difficult task of approaching such a highly charged and sensitive subject with skill and insight. That it never overshadows the story is another great achievement within a game that is well paced with more than enough gameplay and visual appeal to elevate it beyond a pure narrative project.
Despite leaning heavily on its luminous past, Persona 5 was fantastic; a coherent and nicely escalating narrative, an engaging ensemble cast, amazing outfits, striking art and music with the turn based combat tweaked and improved without ever venturing into any of that awful real time nonsense that can ruin an otherwise thoughtful and tactical battle system. But perhaps its biggest achievement was to sidestep the awful bad-anime-soap-opera dross that can blight these kinds of adventures.
Despite issues with the title – most of the original game was set ‘before the storm’ – it surpassed my expectations of a Life is Strange prequel. Ashly Burch’s absence was actually something of a boon as her replacement brings some much needed awkward vulnerability to the usually more emotionally armoured Chloe Price of the original game. Add in a much tighter romance story full of all the wonderfully overwrought pressures of adolescence and I’m all in with a box of tissues and a tub of ice cream.
Neatherealm pretty much hit the apex for solo fighting games with Injustice 2. Somehow manages to have loot, procedural generation and a full fat story whilst boasting great graphics, animations and a beefy character roster.
About as good as any golf game can be, beef up the visuals and you'd be pretty much done for put put perfection. Well designed courses with a near endless stream of unlocks and outfits with none of the cosmic boredom or existential torment real golf inflicts.
Alas the story didn’t grab me as it did so many others, and whilst I found the characters relatively clichéd and undeveloped there is no doubting the scale of creativity on display. For an experience with quite a lot of backtracking, dull side missions and relatively minimal RPG elements it did well to hold my attention right until the final ending of endings. The combat is balletic and entertaining but the real highlight is Automata’s depth of imagination and 2B’s disgustingly beautiful dress.