2017 is being hailed as one of gaming’s best years in over a decade. I’m highly inclined to agree — it’s been a phenomenal year for video games across the board, and as 2018 rolls in, I’d like to share a bit about my favorite experiences and stories throughout the year.
Genre-definers — Horizon: Zero Dawn and Persona 5
Both of these games are in my personal top 3, mainly because of how objectively well-made they are. Extremely polished, almost redefining the Open-World Action RPG (Horizon) and JRPG (Persona) genres.
Persona 5 is on 3rd place in my personal Game of the Year rankings. It’s taken the series’ flow of day-to-day life as a Japanese high-schooler while also having supernatural powers and uncovering mysteries to a whole new level — Social Links (now called Confidants) have gameplay value outside just additional EXP for Persona fusion, the turn-based battle system is the best I’ve seen of it’s kind, the characters for the most part, are three-dimensional, well-written, and extremely likeable. The story isn’t really as gripping as it’s predecessors, but the themes it tackles — societal decay, depression, personal rebellions — are timely and relateable. Also, as expected, the soundtrack is amazing, and it has the most coherent art style I’ve seen in a game: every design element, from the menus, the UI, the animations, the gameplay, the character designs, all reinforce each other to strengthen the game’s stylistic identity. It’s gotta be played to be fully appreciated, so do yourself that favor.
In second place, is Horizon: Zero Dawn. Perhaps the most polished Open-World Action-RPG currently in the market. The graphics are stunning, the gameplay is fluid, intuitive, and encourages creativity. The story is interesting enough, pulling you along a mystery that’ll have you thrilled to explore every nook and cranny of its beautiful world. It also has some of the most well-realized, immersive, detailed fantasy worlds in gaming simply because it has so much culture: each tribe has different beliefs, architecture, clothing, ways of life — and the game doesn’t hold back on showing it to you. Horizon: Zero Dawn is definitely an experience to behold, and in a medium saturated with remasters aplenty and where sequels abound, it’s very refreshing to see such a good new IP.
NieR: Automata is my Game of the Year for 2017
In a great year of ‘more of the same, only better’ NieR: Automata takes the risks and pushes the medium further than anyone else did this year (from the games I’ve played at least; full disclosure: I’ve only got PlayStation and PC as platforms). The game marries Bullet Hell shooting, 2D side-scrolling, and one of the most fluid and fast Action-RPG systems I’ve seen in a while, near flawlessly — making me think about the use of perspectives and cameras in video games a little more than usual. The game world feels empty and bleak, but in a good way, and the soundtrack is hauntingly atmospheric (and the best music to come out for games this year). The story is also subtle, and the game makes you feel an overall sense of existential dread, which is something I haven’t really experienced in games as much.
Final Fantasy XV gets an amazing amount of post-launch support for a single-player RPG.
FFXV, while being a resounding financial success for Square Enix, is pretty polarizing if the internet is anything to be believed. I personally loved it when I finished it last year (it became my third favorite Final Fantasy overall, and honestly took up a little too much of my headspace in the past year), but I had to admit it did have its flaws — most probably due to its tumultuous development. Throughout 2017 we saw the game get numerous free patches (mostly quality-of-life changes and additional cutscenes and features like character-swap) and DLC packages that fleshed out the story a bit more (not really integral to the story, but interesting nonetheless). I’ve never seen a single-player RPG get so much support after launch, and most publishers/developers would usually opt to pull the plug and leave things as they are, but Square Enix’s BD2 team seems committed to continue building upon the experience.
All this support for FFXV, and the previous miracle that is FFXIV: A Realm Reborn is sending me the message that Square Enix knows it has to take care of its flagship franchise, and makes me excited to see what’s next for Final Fantasy as a whole.
I’ll be making a long, retrospective post on the franchise at a later date, because there’s really a lot to cover as Final Fantasy is personally the most influential franchise to me.
Yakuza filling the Sleeping Dogs shaped hole in my gaming portfolio.
This year, the PlayStation finally received the Yakuza localizations. It’s no secret that Sleeping Dogs is one of those special gems of a game that I really enjoyed — it had a great fighting system, an atmospheric open-world, great characters and a good story. Though I’m not very far along Yakuza just yet, I can already tell it’s gonna tick all those boxes as well. I can’t wait to experience this franchise.
Zeus and KuroKy: Long-time Esports Players finally reach their summits.
Over on the esports front, two of my favorite story lines to come out of 2017 were stories of actualization — of two long-time pros finally claiming the highest title of their sport, of two people fulfilling their destinies. Both Daniil “Zeus” Teslenko and Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi have been playing their respective game since it’s previous iteration (CS 1.6 for Zeus, Dota 1 for KuroKy), and have been to the grand finals of the biggest tournaments of their esport, falling short because well, sometimes it’s not the right time, not the right team… not the right circumstances.
But last year, after being kicked out of Natus Vincere, a team Zeus helped found, Zeus took an underdog team, Gambit, to the Krakow Major and forged a legacy. Kuroky, meanwhile, after all his years of hard work and growth, finally lifted the Aegis of Champions at the International.
Both of them are legendary captains of their respective teams, and both of them don’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
Looking forward to 2018.
Dissidia NT is probably my most-anticipated title for the coming year — not only is it the perfect way to celebrate Final Fantasy’s 31st year as a franchise (and the dearest games to my heart) but I also have very, very fond memories of playing the Dissidia PSP titles with my friends. This year I’ll be playing with different people, and now on PSN, but it’ll be a blast, I’m sure. Not only will I get to play with my friends, I’m also really looking forward to new banter between characters. (Please, please, announce Tifa and Yuna in the character roster already, Square Enix!)
I’m also really looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2, because Red Dead is actually my favorite Rockstar title. On the strategy/city-builder front there’s Tropico 6, the new Rise and Fall expansion for Civilization 6, and Anno 1800. It’s actually my second favorite genre after RPG’s, and I’m glad it’s getting some love after a mostly quiet 2017.
Also, Valkyria Chronicles 4 got announced for next year! I’m still in the middle of my playthrough for 3, but I love this franchise and I’m really glad it’s coming back into it’s tactical roots.
It’s looking like another great year for games! (All I’m missing now is the Final Fantasy VII Remake, or even just updates about it, I’m not picky! Or a new Final Fantasy Tactics.)
