TOP 10 (that actually has eight games) of 2017 by M4ST4
8. Persona 5
My first (real) Persona wasn't a painless experience, but after clocking in almost 100 hours it was a truly memorable one. Excellent soundtrack and production design, lovely cast of characters you get to know better with each passing battle, or ramen plate. Futaba best waifu, obviously.
7. Splatoon 2
My first Splatoon game was the sequel, for Nintendo Switch, and even without trying everything it has to offer I find myself firing up the card at least once a day, to compliment my (often failed) Overwatch competitive parties (Thank you, Leaver #37). Humor is on point, it has plenty of style, and Splatoon manages to find that perfect balance between competitive and just plain old noobish fun. A Nintendo franchise, then.
6. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Phew. Okay... This game. This game isn't perfect, alright? Took me one playthrough to figure out how to properly play it and, unfortunately, you can only really play it like you're playing, say, Doom (2016). And it's far from gameplay perfection that was Doom, or even its predecessor Wolfenstein earlier this generation, due to poor damage detection, or damage indicator. BUT! There's plenty of butts here... it's one of the best FPS campaigns, perhaps ever. Looks gorgeous and has one of the wackiest narratives in a long time. Wolfenstein 2 isn't afraid to speak up and push the stereotypes forward, surprise you along the way. Honestly, it's worth it for that one sequence on another planet alone. Long live the single player.
5. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Bravo, Ninja Theory! Not only did they finish their long gestating ''AA project' (triple A wrapped in an indie budget), but it was also one of the bravest, wildest, truly emotional gaming experiences this year. Hellblade tackled mental illness like those rare few games before it and Senua (fantastic Melina Juergens) was a protagonist you cared for along the harrowing journey. Headset absolutely required for this one!
4. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
I really liked Uncharted 4, everybody knows that. After beating it the third time (or was it the fourth?), I started realizing how, yeah, the pacing was off at times. But overall it was a fitting conclusion to Drake's journey and I was ready to stop thinking about Uncharted... until Chloe said wait up, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve too! And not only did she (and Nadine, respectfully) deliver, but The Lost Legacy quickly became my second favorite Uncharted game, after the second one. And it wouldn't happen if the finale wasn't so goddamn epic and character based. Cheers Drake, now give us more Chloe, Naughty Dog. Please?
3. Super Mario Odyssey
This is a perfect Mario game. Super Mario Odyssey is like a dream come true: a fully 3D Mario game a la Mario 64 and a celebration of all the Mario games before it and on top of all that also a game that thinks outside of the box and lets you experiment by becoming all of Mario's enemies... and things surrounding him. It shouldn't work, goddamnit, but once you grip the joycons and start playing it's a pure gaming blast, whether you're a plant, electricity, a giant piece of meat (you'll see) or goomba, on top of goomba, on top of goomba, with a mustachio, trying to seduce lady goomba on top of that hill. It is a celebratory revolution and a fun ride from start to finish (if you ever get to it). Feverishly awesome soundtrack and colorful imaginative worlds help, a lot.
2. Nier Automata
This was a close second. Or third. This year was tough, in a good way! Anyway, leave it to Yoko Taro to completely mindfuck you throughout the entire game and leave you breathless after you finish all of its (relevant) endings. If you haven't finished routes: A, B, C and D (looking at you, prince), you haven't played Nier Automata yet. At least not properly. It's a game that comments not only on the state of humanity, and artificial humanity, but also games as a whole. It's introspective, bizzare, sexy, sad, ultraviolent and has one of the best soundtracks in a year filled with great sound. Watch out for that credit sequence, unskippable. If this helps, and you haven't played it yet, I'd put it face2face with another gaming masterpiece by Hideo Kojima - MGS2.
1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I honestly thought this was going to be tougher for me, but after beating Ganon today, and my instant decision to, not only leave it for a good while, but to fire it up again and continue playing for two more hours, I realized that Breath of the Wild isn't just my GOTY 2017, it's also one of the best games I've played. Certainly my favorite Zelda game, after Ocarina of Time (on 3DS). Gameplay is so addictive, fun and functional (reminds me of The Phantom Pain), which is a devastating mixture when you play it on Switch - a fully portable console. Next up, the world is fully realized, filled with little details that will stun you along the way. God knows how many times I've waited for a storm to pass because I was standing in the middle of a mountain, afraid of another lightning strike that could strike me down just as I was progressing nicely, or a too slippery rock side. And it is in those moment, when you're alone with your avatar Link, that you start appreciating the details, the sense of immense scale, fragility - like you're truly in there, and not just a playful spectator. You can play BOTW as a collector freak, you can go straight for Ganon or just play all of the humorous, sympathetic, invested sidequests for dozens of hours. There are also shrines, little snipets of that good old Zelda mistery (all 120 of them!) and, of course, four big ones, which are a totally different story. BOTW is a once-twice in a generation achievement and I can't wait to dive into DLC content, if only because I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT. Eiji Aonuma truly outdid himself with this one and I cannot thank him, and his team, enough. BOTW is a reason why I play games in the first place.
The Biggest disappointment: Destiny 2 - fuck you Activision Bungie. After 300 hours of D1 and 70 hours of D2, enough said.
Not enough time but certainly piqued my interest and will play in 2018: Resident Evil 7, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Sexy Brutale, Cuphead
MOST ANTICIPATED 2018 GAME: God of War (Sony Santa Monica)
8. Persona 5
My first (real) Persona wasn't a painless experience, but after clocking in almost 100 hours it was a truly memorable one. Excellent soundtrack and production design, lovely cast of characters you get to know better with each passing battle, or ramen plate. Futaba best waifu, obviously.
7. Splatoon 2
My first Splatoon game was the sequel, for Nintendo Switch, and even without trying everything it has to offer I find myself firing up the card at least once a day, to compliment my (often failed) Overwatch competitive parties (Thank you, Leaver #37). Humor is on point, it has plenty of style, and Splatoon manages to find that perfect balance between competitive and just plain old noobish fun. A Nintendo franchise, then.
6. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Phew. Okay... This game. This game isn't perfect, alright? Took me one playthrough to figure out how to properly play it and, unfortunately, you can only really play it like you're playing, say, Doom (2016). And it's far from gameplay perfection that was Doom, or even its predecessor Wolfenstein earlier this generation, due to poor damage detection, or damage indicator. BUT! There's plenty of butts here... it's one of the best FPS campaigns, perhaps ever. Looks gorgeous and has one of the wackiest narratives in a long time. Wolfenstein 2 isn't afraid to speak up and push the stereotypes forward, surprise you along the way. Honestly, it's worth it for that one sequence on another planet alone. Long live the single player.
5. Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Bravo, Ninja Theory! Not only did they finish their long gestating ''AA project' (triple A wrapped in an indie budget), but it was also one of the bravest, wildest, truly emotional gaming experiences this year. Hellblade tackled mental illness like those rare few games before it and Senua (fantastic Melina Juergens) was a protagonist you cared for along the harrowing journey. Headset absolutely required for this one!
4. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
I really liked Uncharted 4, everybody knows that. After beating it the third time (or was it the fourth?), I started realizing how, yeah, the pacing was off at times. But overall it was a fitting conclusion to Drake's journey and I was ready to stop thinking about Uncharted... until Chloe said wait up, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve too! And not only did she (and Nadine, respectfully) deliver, but The Lost Legacy quickly became my second favorite Uncharted game, after the second one. And it wouldn't happen if the finale wasn't so goddamn epic and character based. Cheers Drake, now give us more Chloe, Naughty Dog. Please?
3. Super Mario Odyssey
This is a perfect Mario game. Super Mario Odyssey is like a dream come true: a fully 3D Mario game a la Mario 64 and a celebration of all the Mario games before it and on top of all that also a game that thinks outside of the box and lets you experiment by becoming all of Mario's enemies... and things surrounding him. It shouldn't work, goddamnit, but once you grip the joycons and start playing it's a pure gaming blast, whether you're a plant, electricity, a giant piece of meat (you'll see) or goomba, on top of goomba, on top of goomba, with a mustachio, trying to seduce lady goomba on top of that hill. It is a celebratory revolution and a fun ride from start to finish (if you ever get to it). Feverishly awesome soundtrack and colorful imaginative worlds help, a lot.
2. Nier Automata
This was a close second. Or third. This year was tough, in a good way! Anyway, leave it to Yoko Taro to completely mindfuck you throughout the entire game and leave you breathless after you finish all of its (relevant) endings. If you haven't finished routes: A, B, C and D (looking at you, prince), you haven't played Nier Automata yet. At least not properly. It's a game that comments not only on the state of humanity, and artificial humanity, but also games as a whole. It's introspective, bizzare, sexy, sad, ultraviolent and has one of the best soundtracks in a year filled with great sound. Watch out for that credit sequence, unskippable. If this helps, and you haven't played it yet, I'd put it face2face with another gaming masterpiece by Hideo Kojima - MGS2.
1. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
I honestly thought this was going to be tougher for me, but after beating Ganon today, and my instant decision to, not only leave it for a good while, but to fire it up again and continue playing for two more hours, I realized that Breath of the Wild isn't just my GOTY 2017, it's also one of the best games I've played. Certainly my favorite Zelda game, after Ocarina of Time (on 3DS). Gameplay is so addictive, fun and functional (reminds me of The Phantom Pain), which is a devastating mixture when you play it on Switch - a fully portable console. Next up, the world is fully realized, filled with little details that will stun you along the way. God knows how many times I've waited for a storm to pass because I was standing in the middle of a mountain, afraid of another lightning strike that could strike me down just as I was progressing nicely, or a too slippery rock side. And it is in those moment, when you're alone with your avatar Link, that you start appreciating the details, the sense of immense scale, fragility - like you're truly in there, and not just a playful spectator. You can play BOTW as a collector freak, you can go straight for Ganon or just play all of the humorous, sympathetic, invested sidequests for dozens of hours. There are also shrines, little snipets of that good old Zelda mistery (all 120 of them!) and, of course, four big ones, which are a totally different story. BOTW is a once-twice in a generation achievement and I can't wait to dive into DLC content, if only because I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT. Eiji Aonuma truly outdid himself with this one and I cannot thank him, and his team, enough. BOTW is a reason why I play games in the first place.
The Biggest disappointment: Destiny 2 - fuck you Activision Bungie. After 300 hours of D1 and 70 hours of D2, enough said.
Not enough time but certainly piqued my interest and will play in 2018: Resident Evil 7, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Sexy Brutale, Cuphead
MOST ANTICIPATED 2018 GAME: God of War (Sony Santa Monica)
