Now for the best games I played in 2017, released in any year (except 2017, as with last year I will leave out games last year to avoid crossover with my previous list). This was exceptionally difficult this year. I played a significant number of excellent games this year so this was a difficult list to make. As a result I’ve cheated a bit and made a slightly larger honourable mentions list at the end.
Game of the Year: Bloodborne: it’s a good thing I make two of these lists. It saves me from having to put my two favourite games of the year against each other. Save by the technicality of release year 
As I mentioned when discussing Breath of the Wild on my previous list, I seldom feel strongly enough to declare game favourites. But like Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne blew me away. Right from the start everything about the game clicked. Every death was a humbling experience. Every win was well earned victory. Bloodborne tweaked the Dark Souls formula in ways that highly appeal to me and I absolutely devoured the game.
Now for the rest (in no particular order):
- Bound: performance art in video game form, Bound is utterly captivating. I was enamoured with the ability to dance and interact with the environments. The game uses dance and performance to articulate a story of family breakdown and loss, which I found to be a compelling idea.
- Salt and Sanctuary: 2D Bloodborne. What’s not to like? I played Salt and Sanctuary after completing Bloodborne and I was quite satisfied with the way it translated the ideas from the latter into a 2D space.
- Rise of the Tomb Raider: arguably Rose of the Tomb Raider has a less interesting story than its predecessor, but I still enjoyed it. However the action is near perfect. While many games stuff open world game full of busy-work, that inevitably grows tedious, I felt thoroughly engaged with every task in Rise of the Tomb Raider. I felt compelled to complete everything, not because I’d receive some sort of achievement, but because every task was enjoyable. I was impressed with the way that Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix designed a game that kept me fully enthralled no matter the task.
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture: exceptionally beautiful and moving game with a score that might be my favourite of the year. I hope that the temporary closure of The Chinese Room is indeed temporary and that we see games from them in future.
-
Alien: Isolation: I have very mixed feelings about Alien: Isolation, but ultimately I still
Gave it four stars. Despite its failings it was an experience I couldn’t tear myself away from. - Alone With You: a very pretty game about relationships and artificial intelligence. It reminds me a bit of old Lucas Arts or Sierra point-and-click games but with a little less humour and more poignance.
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End: a great end to a great series (I know the Lost Legacy is the true finale, but I’m considering the main games starring Nathan Drake). I know some people felt the game overstayed it’s welcome, but I thoroughly loved the story and its pacing. Nolan North and Troy Baker also have great chemistry, and I enjoyed their portrayal of two brothers.
- Axiom Verge: I already loved the Axiom Verge soundtrack at least a full year prior to playing the game. Finally playing the game was even better than anything that excellent soundtrack had prepared me for. Dare I say, I might even enjoy Axiom Verge more than most instalments of the game to which it pays homage.
- Never Alone: a very moving game that pulls from the oral tradition and storytelling of the Iñupiaq people. The game does a beautiful job at telling the story of a young girl and her Arctic Fox companion. I love the attempt to translate indigenous story telling into a modern media form and the fact that, in addition to the main story, the game provides multiple vignettes that provide additional information about Iñupiaq people and culture.
Honourable mentions
- Dragon Age: Inquisition: this doesn’t make the main list because I’ve played it prior to this year. But the fact that I squeezed in two 120 hour play throughs while I was waiting for the release of Breath of the Wild and Mass Effect: Andromeda means the game deserves some recognition. And it remains one of my absolute favourite BioWare games to this day.
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD: another game that I have played previously, and also played while waiting for Breath of the Wild to drop. The Wind Walker remains both one of the best games ever made and my favourite 3D Zelda game after Breath of the Wild.
- Attack the Light: a very enjoyable mobile RPG game staring the main characters of Steven Universe. I’m looking forward to playing the sequel, Save the Light.
- Starwhal: some of the most fun playing a co-op game this year came thanks to Starwhal. It’s a ridiculously great multiplayer game, where ridiculous is a prime descriptor.
- Screencheat: another bonkers multiplayer game that had us laughing while we tried to gun down each other’s invisible avatars.
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War: a very poignant game that explores the history and lives of the First World War. A must play for anyone that enjoys history or personal stories.
- The Last Guardian and Inside: I counted both of these games in my best of 2016 last year because I made the list a bit after New Years. Technically though I played them in 2017. But since I already gave them spots on my favourites in 2016 I’m not going to duplicate them in the top ten above. Simpler this way.