Now that the year is officially over, I thought it would be a nice opportunity to share some thoughts about the games released through out the year, be them good, bad or mediocre. Considering I didn't had activity anywhere else whoops, I didn't had the chance to give my two cents on all of the games of this year. So, let's make up for that with this list.
10. WONDER BOY: THE DRAGON'S TRAP (NS / XBO / PS4)
Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap - Launch Trailer
The Master System isn't known for great titles - and that's mostly justified, it's games library is less than impressive. However, there are a few stand out games there and one of them is Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. For the unaware, Wonder Boy started out as a simple platformer where you had to reach the goal before a time limit that you could fill by eating fruit - if this concept seems familiar, it's because Wonder Boy became Adventure Island on the NES, which is more popular than the original. To deviate from the formula, the creators of Wonder Boy made one of the sequels a 2D platformer with RPG elements on it.
A damn fine one and it got an amazing remake this year. If you are a fan of games like Shantae, Dragon's Trap plays somewhat similarly with it's open world design and even has you transforming into different forms to achieve new abilities. The game is gorgeous, definitely following on the steps of Half-Genie Hero as the standard of what 2D platformers should look like and it is great to see it catching on other games like Hollow Knight. Plus, it has a great soundtrack. The negative side is that it is a fairly easy game and it shouldn't take too long to you to beat - if that is not a negative for you, this is a definite purchase for the interested.
There is also a spiritual successor, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, funded through Kickstarter that is also coming to the Switch, so if you enjoyed Dragon's Trap, there will be more Wonder Boy goodness soon.
9. NEW DANGANRONPA V3: KILLING HARMONY (PS4 / PSVITA)
Danganronpa V3 Killing Harmony - PS4, PS Vita Trailer E3 2017
This is a difficult one. It is a brilliantly written game, provided you have actually played the previous three games in the franchise to actually enjoy most out of it. It's difficult to even say what makes this game so great without having to spoil the surprises and without having to explain to you the story till now, but as a DR fan, holy shit did this game blew me away. As a concept, the fact it is reaching it's third installment might feel like the series is stagnating *cough*fnaf*cough*, I mean with the concept of a group of highly talented high school kids having to commit the perfect murder to escape a highly secured facility without getting caught, you would feel like there would be nowhere to go from there - which is exactly what the developers thought, in fact the game does highlight how stagnating the formula is getting and it is very smartly written in the story, I won't spoil how, but goddamn!.
The reason it's no. 9 is that if you weren't interested in a previous installment of the series, then there is nothing this installment will do to try to win you over, it's a great story by itself but one that only the people that have been following the series ever since the start will get the most enjoyment out of.
plus it is filled with hard hitting questions
8. DOOM (NS)
DOOM Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch
It's DOOM. On Switch. Let me repeat that, it's DOOM on Switch. Do I need to say anything else? A brilliantly crafted first person shooter that successfully brings back a classic game to the modern age without losing anything that made the original fun or charming while also introducing elements that make it stand out on it's own to be a perfectly amazing game.
And you can play it on the toilet now.
7. ARMS (NS)
ARMS - Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer
ARMS was a slow burn. The initial release, while fun and surprisingly deep, didn't had much going for it. However, through out the months with the new updates, characters, balances, stages, arms, feets, legs and thiccs, ARMS won me over, bringing me the Punch-Out!! sequel I never knew I wanted. A game so surreally unique that both feels like a Nintendo game and at the same time, it feels like something completely new. It's gameplay helps bring fun, fast matches that makes ARMS a very enjoyable to play to cool down after a hard day. I don't normally play online, but ARMS was stable and it provided me with lots of fun.
Sad to know the game is not longer having updates, but I do think ARMS is still an enjoyable game to play, be it online or locally, if you can manage to do so. Or play single-player. That is also fun. Have you noticed how less descriptive these descriptions have been so far? This is why you do drafts before writing stuff, kiddos, don't do a first draft and publish it right away.
6. CRRRRRRRAAAAAASSSSHHH BAAANDICOOTTT N. SANE TRLOGY (PS4)
The Comeback Trailer Crash Bandicoot® N. Sane Trilogy Crash Bandicoot-0
The madbandicoot actually came back. And it was glorious.
To think that Crash Bandicoot would actually come back from the dead in the year of the lord 2017 after a failed series of reboots and a particuraly terrible stint at another dead game franchise, it is almost insane that this actually happened. But here we are, with an n. sane collection of three of the best PS1 era platformers in a single disk remastered in high definition graphics that just looks plainly beautiful.
The make or break of N. Sane Trilogy, however, is it's very own selling point. It's three PS1 era 3D platformers, back when the formula wasn't very well refined. While they are three perfectly playable games, there is not much done to actually make it more paltape to the 3D platformer standards of today. It isn't plagued by the worst things that made 3D platformers back then unbearable but it doesn't has the refinements modern games utilize, so you know, it's a shiny looking time vault.
5. MARIO + FLUFFY MINIONS: XCOM (NS)
Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle - Official Game Trailer - Nintendo E3 2017
Proving there is no such thing as bad ideas, Mario + Rabbids combined a popular game franchise with one that old French men at Ubisoft are trying to prove to you that it is hip, cool and memeworthy (seriously what the fuck was this) to actually create one of the most fun turn-based strategy games I have played in a while. TBSes are often difficult to get into, in fact, 100% of TBSes are pretty much this image right here (don't believe me? heres an actual FE mechanic.) But Mario + Rabbids cuts down on the math to provide a more simple, yet challenging and fun game.
At first, I was worried about the seemingly short length of the game and the small character pool, but as I was playing it, the length felt just right, there weren't any moments of the game that I was like "ok guys, that's enough, why is this map so fucking huge". Maps are condesed but there is still enough room to build interesting strategies with the multiple abilities that you can chain with your other party members, it reminds me of Chroma Squad that did a similar thing with it's acrobacy mechanics.
Plus, it is actually genuinely funny for once in the Rabbids lifetime.
4. 2D SONIC GENERATIONS (NS / XBO / PS4 / PC)
Sonic Mania Launch Trailer - Nintendo Switch
What needed to be said of Sonic Mania has been said and repeated too many times already, so I will end this description with this sick ass reinterpretation of Studiopolis Zone - Act 1.
3. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SMELLY BREATH (NS / WiiU)
The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild - Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Trailer
Same as Sonic Mania, unfortunately I do not have any sick ass remixes to leave you with for this part of the top 10 list, so here's a cute doggo.
Super Mario Odyssey - Game Trailer - Nintendo E3 2017
2. SUPER MARIO WACKY WORLDS (NS)
X. HÖNÂRÃBLÈ MENCIONNÉS
- What Remains of Edith Finch (PC) - Beautifully written game and amazingly well executed game design, bringing together story and gameplay seemingly flawlessly for one of the saddest yet most beautiful indie games of the year.
- Star Fox 2 (SNESCE) - IT ACTUALLY CAME OUT
- Don Bradman Cricket 17 (PC) - Hm.
- Neir: Automata (PC/PS4/XBO) - Not a particular fan of it's style, setting, ideas or gameplay - but it is nice to see something so wildly different in tone and storytelling doing well in 2017.
- Star Wars Battlefront 2 (Las Vegas) - Best meme of 2017
1. WAIFU SIMULATOR 5 (PS4)
Persona 5 Gameplay Trailer
It's got all, baby, a riveting storyline (that admittedly could had been better had they decided not to include some questionable stuff and included some other things), deep characters that are both funny, interesting and just great to have around, ｑｕａｌｉｔｙ ｓｏｕｎｄｔｒａｃｋ, additions to the battle formula that both make the game more fun to play, more challenging and somehow not actually make the players confused about it's mechanics (unrelated pic).
Persona 5 is just a blast to play through. The two halvess of the game compliment each other making for a game that is very hard to put it down, should you get bored of the action half, there is the other more slower half, where you can *ahem* take your time to explore the stylish world of Tokyo in Persona as well to learn more about the characters that go along with you on your journey or learn the stories of others in the city. The framing of having the protagonist learn his abilities through the people he meets is a fantastical way to implement that part of the game into the main story, previous Persona games struggled with this with Social Links only mattering by the end of the game when the power of friendship saves you from the godmonster at the end, but this time it is done in a way that is not only clever but also makes sense within the game.
Have I talked about the soundtrack? Let's talk about it. An unorthodox choice for an urban fantasy game, the choice of a jazz themed soundtrack made it stand out above other soundtracks in the market to give Persona 5 even more charm, appeal and uniqueness. No game has ever come close to beating out Persona 5 for me, it surpassed all of my expectations and more and in the end, it became my favorite game of 2017.