Gaming year in review: 2017

Happy New Year everyone! It’s time for my usual gaming year in review! This is where I briefly review every game I played in the year and pick my favorites. (As always, I only count games that I haven’t played before, are remakes, or have new content – no replays.)

Let’s start with the favorites! These are picked out of the games I played in 2017, which may or may not have been released that year. This time, I’m adding an “honorable mention” since I play way more single player games, and I feel like I miss out on featuring other really good games.

Favorite Single Player: Legend of Zelda – Breath of the Wild
A Zelda game that is unlike other Zelda games, which also exceeded my expectations. I had my doubts on the open world feel, but it was refreshing to see a Zelda game finally break out of its formula. While I wished the Divine Beasts provided more of a challenge, the rest of the world offered more to fill the gap, and I found myself addicted to exploring and doing things at my own pace.

Favorite Multiplayer: Destiny 2
Destiny 2 feels like a MMO/shooter mishmash that doesn’t quite know what it is, but it’s filled that online co-op gap that I’ve been missing. It’s been fun to play with my friends, and I like how different and involved the raids are. I do wish that it had more content, but at least they’re still adding things, and the weekly challenges keep bringing us back in.

Favorite Indie/Download: Pyre
Supergiant excels when it comes to beautiful art, music, and likeable characters. Pyre is probably the most different feeling of their three games, with its decision making gameplay and a combat system that is more like a sports game. I was unsure about it at first, but the more I play it, the more into I get.

Honorable Mention: Tomb Raider
I enjoyed Tomb Raider more than I expected. At first, I didn’t take it seriously because it seemed like everything that could possibly go wrong for Lara does (and continues to). However, it’s the right balance of combat, exploration, and puzzles, making this a great game.

Now for the rest of the games I played in 2017!
(* = I beat the game. | ~ = There’s no ending, but I played a lot of it.)

3DS (2)

* Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
This game is a dream come true for fans of both game series. It was fun to see the two work together and to switch between solving puzzles and defending in court. The puzzles were great, but I felt the court parts were weaker than a typical Phoenix Wright game. I also felt the ending was a let down.

* Zero Time Dilemma
This is the third in the series, and it’s probably the hardest to follow due to the game style of playing in out-of-order snippets. I did really enjoy doing the puzzles and slowly unraveling the story though. I’m also just glad that it ended up being made to (somewhat) wrap up the story! (Since it was canceled at one point.)

PC (9)

Arrow Heads
A pretty simple multiplayer where you try to kill each other with bow and arrow and other power-ups appear through the round. It’s silly fun, but the controls are awkward, and there isn’t much to make it stand out against other similar multiplayer games.

~ Destiny 2
See above.

* Firewatch
Firewatch was an interesting way of storytelling and character development, using dialog between two characters that you don’t ever see the faces of. It had exploration, a bit of suspense, and beautiful scenery. It’s a short game, and the story didn’t totally fit together, but it’s probably worth a play.

Invisigun Heroes
This is a neat concept where everyone is invisible until you shoot or use an ability. It makes it hard to figure out where your opponents are as well as yourself. We thought this was a fun concept, and it’s nice that there’s different game modes to keep things interesting.

Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
We enjoyed the previous Lara Croft co-op game, but this one didn’t draw us in like the other one did. We didn’t get very far and hope to give it another try some time.

Mass Effect Andromeda
I’m a super huge fan of the original Mass Effect trilogy, so I tried really hard to give Andromeda a chance, even after it had started to bore me. Unfortunately, I had to give up. The pacing of the game felt really unnatural, and though I like open world games, the way it’s done in Andromeda did not appeal to me. Definite disappointment.

Pyre
See above.

The Witness
I thought this game would be up my alley since I love puzzle games, but I couldn’t really get into this one. The whole feel of the game is very strange, and sometimes the puzzles were interesting while other times they were more of a nuisance.

* Tomb Raider
See above.

Switch (2)

* Breath of the Wild
See above.

* Snipperclips
A super cute co-op game where you snip parts out of each other to solve puzzles, which vary from things like creating shapes or guiding/carrying objects. We loved the creativity in the game and wished it wasn’t so short.

Wii U (3)

* Bayonetta 2
Bayonetta 2 has much of the same feel from the first game with its epic fights and smooth combat mechanics. I still love making combos and activating Witch Time, which slows time if you dodge at the right moment. A very solid sequel to one of my favorite games.

* Pikmin 3
The last Pikmin game I played was the first one, and since then, they’ve made a lot of improvements, especially including extra people so you can divide up tasks easier. I had a lot of fun with this one and the Wii U controller works well with the multitasking aspect.

* Rayman Legends
If you’re a platformer fan, I recommend this one. It’s fun, creative, and has a variety of level styles to keep things interesting. It also has a good mix between “just for fun” levels and ones that are definite challenges.

Xbox 360 (1)

* Batman Arkham Asylum
For the most part, I enjoyed this game, especially when it comes to sneaking around and exploring Arkham island. I think some of the controls and camera angles could have been improved though, and some of the backtracking was annoying.

Virtual Reality (1)

Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
This is a game that tests your teamwork as one person can see the bomb, while everyone else only has a manual in front of them. You have to have constant back-and-forth dialogue to figure out how to disarm it. I played it without VR before, but with the Vive, I think it’s even more fun.

That adds up to a total of 18 games! That is actually fewer than usual, as I typically aim for 30 games. Though, I’ve realized that aiming for that many each year isn’t always realistic since different games have different lengths, and sometimes there’s a game or two that sucks up all my time. (This year, it was Breath of the Wild and Destiny 2.)

I did manage to knock out some games that have been sitting on my backlog for a long time at least, but I do wish I had gotten to more. I will try to play even more this year!