There are three metrics by which 2017 was a good year — film (lumping movies and TV together though), games, and music. In every other regard it was trash. America still has a stale cheese-puff bigot leading it (though we seem to be slowly inching towards ousting that piece-of-shit). The world is still on-edge otherwise. Personally I’ve had a shit year myself.
But we got a lot of great games, movies/tv, and music. Today I want to start by going over some games I loved this year. There are games I’ve wanted to play but haven’t so I will talk about those in a later(?) post.
With that out of the way… let’s get onto my five best “completed” games this year. For a game to qualify I have to have “beat” the game — where I’m defining beating the game as playing through the entire narrative (where applicable) or playing a large enough of the game that I don’t have “new” features,mechanics, etc. to understand.
5. Resident Evil 7
Go tell Aunt Rhody… that Resident Evil 7 is a stellar return to form after the fun but not interesting nor particularly scary Resident Evil 5 and the atrocious Resident Evil 6. Resident Evil 7 acts as a “soft reboot” for the series in many ways — focusing on a new cast but being set after the last numbered entry, bringing the gameplay to first-person (much like original concepts for the first game, and the Famicom horror-RPG-movie-tie-in Sweet Home), and making the game an actual survival horror game again.
Yes, the game falters in the final act, and yes the introduction of Chris Redfield at the very end (and the soon-to-be-released “Not a Hero DLC”) may soon make us need to worry for the franchise’s direction but 90% of this game is stellar. The last 10% is “okay” and that’s better than straight up “bad”.
For me this game just did such a good job at making me tense while also morbidly curious about what was happening. The Baker family are terrifying, but the circumstances surrounding it only makes the whole affair quite somber. The first-person view combined with the current-generation’s tech makes for an incredibly visceral experience. I was uncomfortable watching my hand get cut-off by my wife. Or the first time I learned I could get my leg cut-off and reattach it if I had a medical kit.
I also love the Lucas segment that seems like a perfect homage to the bathroom trap of the original SAW.
Also worth noting I still can’t get past the Mia fight in the attic on Madhouse mode.
4. Super Mario Odyssey
Mario is kinda lame now huh? Not the game, mind you, I actually am never huge on Mario titles but this game changed that. But Mario Mario, the former plumber? He’s kinda boring. Super Mario Odyssey makes it way onto this list by sheer virtue of how joyful an experience it was. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel but it makes the mere notion of walking straight a joy. Nintendo has made controlling Mario so fucking fun, folks. And this game doesn’t get me down. I needed this. I don’t have a ton to say but this game filled me with so much unabashed joy and made me smile and I didn’t get a lot of that this year so, let’s-a-go!
3. Pyre
Reader, I hope you know that I didn’t really follow Pyre much. Unlike Bastion and Transistor I wasn’t up-to-date on Supergiant’s latest. I knew it was about exiles and played a bit like NBA Jam meets an RPG but I didn’t know too much about it. Then I bought it after seeing everyone rave about it. Pyre made me chuckle, it made me think about morality, empathy, and justice. The game is fun and the cast of characters who join you or face off against you are wonderful, even if you don’t like them. Pyre caught me off guard but took a hold of me and I am excited to see how Supergiant shakes things up with their next project.
2. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
This might actually be number one in as little as a day, but that’s the hard part for this year’s #1 and #2 spot. Zelda though. The first game I ever made was a Zelda-like. Link’s Awakening DX is my GOAT. Breath of the Wild though proves how smart design choices can really make or break a game. I’ve grown weary of open-world games like AC, Batman, etc. They’re great, but I can’t focus and get overwhelmed. Nintendo solved this by really rethinking their approach to hidden objects, side-quests, etc. The actual need to explore was something I stopped caring about in game until I played Breath of the Wild. It’s just so… fun. And , the open-ended nature of the game is a great strength. The idea that after the first region everything is optional? Crazy. I hope someday I can fight and defeat Ganon with Link in his underwear and only the default three hearts. And maybe just a stick as a weapon.
1. Persona 5
You’ll never see me coming! You’ll see that my mind is too fast for eyes. Oh sorry, I actually started singing this just thinking about being a phantom thief. The point is I adored this game. I loved Persona 4, and while I never beat P4: Golden it has a special place in my heart. But there’s something inherently different about joining in on the fun when the game is fresh — an experience I didn’t get to have until P5. Persona 5 is grabbing number one because it encapsulates the best bits of the four games preceding it on this list — the joy of building my rankings with my confidants (❤ you all) takes a page of Mario, the sense of wonder and awe exploring each palace (and the Mementos) takes a page from Zelda, the somber and horrific moments induce that fear and intensity of Resident Evil 7 while the amazing cast of Pyre is easily 1-upped by that of Persona 5 (I still love you, Pyre don’t worry).
But above all, Persona 5 got me through this year. I saw much of myself in each of the Phantom Thieves — the social awkwardness and bizarre habits of Yusuke, pretty much everything about Futaba (shut-in arc included, this year being the 10th anniversary of my own dealings with literally closing myself off), the frustration of Ryuji, the doubt of Ann, the fear of failure pushing Makoto, being a cat who is also a bus like Morgana (okay not that part), and the very frequent trust issues that sometimes rear their head for Haru — I really did feel like I could relate to everyone in some way. And that’s not something a lot of games have done for me.
And it’s a damn fun game too! It maintained the more accessible nature of Persona 3 and Persona 4 while still managing to incorporate more classic SMT elements in a way befitting of a heist themed game (negotiation, etc).
So yeah I adored Persona 5 and I am excited to see what the next-generation of P-Studio creators do for, what I hope is the inevitable, Persona 6.
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Next I hope to address games I loved but didn’t get enough time with, honorable mentions, and curiosities of the year in games. I’ll talk to NieR Automata, Doki Doki Literature Club, World of Horror, and maybe some others.
