As with last year this is a tough list to compile. There were some great games released this year, and a whole slew of them I haven’t even had a chance to play yet. But among the games released in 2017 that I did play, there were some real gems. Enough that I don’t think I can limit it to a list of five. So, like last year here is my top ten (yup, not five) favourites released in 2017 (in no particular order…except for one).
Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: I seldom ever declare any game my favourite game, or the best game I’ve played. I find that concept troubling because it asks me to ascribe objective qualities to something I think is largely about experience, and I find it incredibly difficult to rank experiences. I try to look at my enjoyment of a game independent of other game, and reflect on how it affected me as I played it rather than how it affected me in comparison to other games. While this is not always easy, I find it easier than ranking my experiences. So declaring a GotY is usually not the type of thing I like to do. And going into 2017 if there was any game I thought would be GotY, it was Mass Effect: Andromeda. But this year there was another experience that simply overwhelmed me ever moment I was immersed in it. Breath of the Wild is a magical game, a game that made me relive the kind of wonder and awe that I experienced the first time I played a video game. Is it a perfect game? No. I know I am guilty of defending systems like weapon durability in the game, but I do recognize that there are shortcomings. However, those shortcomings are completely washed away by the continue sense of discovery and amazement I experienced while playing. The sense of real discovery I have experienced in few other games. The sense that I really could do just about anything I want, because all of it is completely possible.
The remaining games on the list are not ranked.
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Gorogoa: Gorogoa is a game that has been on my most anticipated list for a while now. I had seen illustrations from the game prior to release and was excited for the release. Gorogoa sneaked in right at the tail end of the year to make it onto this list. Experientially it may be the only game that rivals Breath of the Wild for pure sense of awe and discovery. Obviously it is structurally very different, and far more linear, but Gorogoa still produces that immense sense of satisfaction associated with discovering something new, especially a new path. Gorogoa is a beautiful game, and one I know I will revisit.
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Rime: I played Rime shortly after completing the Last Guardian, as I imagine a lot of other people did. I think there was a great deal of comparison to both The Last Guardian and Breath of the Wild, with many people writing Rime off as a poor derivative. I, however enjoyed Rime quite a great deal. I find both the art style and the story told quite appealing. It has a very simple story, one based on the main emotional states experienced in the grieving process. I think the game did an exceptional job weaving the experience of grief into the structure of the game, allowing environments and puzzles to mirror the various emotions.
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What Remains of Edith Finch: This is quite possibly the most compelling game I played this year from a creative perspective. The disparate game styles and tones that weaved together to tell a history of the Finch family was like nothing else I played this year. Barbara Finch’s Dreadful Stories sequence is likely my favourite singe gaming moment of 2017. If you’ve played it you’ll likely know why.
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Blackwood Crossing: This was one emotionally draining game. the game resonated with me on several levels. Blackwood Crossing contains a simple yet deeply impact story that is told beautifully through a dreamlike narrative.
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Mass Effect: Andromeda: Yup, it’s on here. Of course it is, It’s me, and at least a handful of you have even heard my defence of the game on the Grouvecast. It’s no secret that I love Mass Effect, and that that love extends to the new game. I played Andromeda twice back-to-back at release. I even played through some of the buggier moments. Despite flaws in the game, I still fell in love with the crew. I had goosebumps all through the final chapter. I am dying for more stories from Andromeda, and I hope the current Mass Effect hiatus doesn’t become a permanent one. Here’s also hopin Bioware can somehow reroute the direction EA seems to be forcign them down (Anthem has me a bit worried in that respect).
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Night in the Woods I was excited for Night in Woods for some time and it definitely didn’t disappoint. A number of the themes resonated strongly with me and I love the art and storytelling. Night in the Woods also kicked off an excellent year in gaming with it, BotW and ME: Andromeda all dropping within weeks of each other.
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AER: Memories of Old another game on my anticipated list that squeaked into my list of favourite games at the tail end of the year. AER conveys a sense of freedom through the game’s flight mechanics that I’ve seldom felt in games. A little bit like Journey with limitless flight. The art style is another winner and I immensely enjoyed simply flying around the world.
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Dishonored: Death of the Outsider this is an odd one. While I have enjoyed the Dishonored series the games have never topped my favourites list. Mechanically they are heaps of fun, but narratively I find them weak. Strangely Death of the Outsider appealed to me in a way that the first two did not. Perhaps because it was shorter, and thus a tighter story with less superfluous elements. Or perhaps I simply enjoyed Billy Lurk’s story more than the stories of Corvo and Emily. Ultimately I had more fun playing and then replaying Death of the Outsider (and then replaying some more).
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Hob: 2017 was a year filled with releases that had been on my radar for some time. Hob is another of those. The game sadly suffered from some performance issues at release but the game was enjoyable enough that I was able to largely ignore that. Hob is a gorgeous isometric action adventure game set in a stunning world that melds nature and machinery. The story is entirely told through visuals, including hieroglyphic style images in historical archives scattered around the world. The hack-and-slash elements are very satisfying, as is the platforming (despite some early issues with camera perspective, which have since been largely corrected).
Honourable mentions
- Monument Valley: superb followup to the original mobile game.
- KAMI 2: a very enjoyable mobile game to play while commuting.
- Hidden Folks: an adorable and enjoyable hidden object game. If the genre is up your alley, this is the must play game of the year.
- Little Nightmares: this definitely should have made the list of top ten released this year, possibly bumping something else. However, my partner and I are playing it together and we haven’t quite finished and we also want to complete the DLC. So Little Nightmares might make it on my list next year.