What's your Game of the Year for 2017?

[Mister Jack]

So the year is almost over and pretty much all the big or important game releases have come to pass.  Out of everything you played, which game deserves to be crowned the king for 2017?  Because I suspect a lot of people will have the same answer, I'm also going to include the runner-up for the sake of variety.  So to start us off, here are my choices.

 

Game of the Year: Persona 5

 

This one was obvious from the beginning.  While I am aware this game has some well-documented flaws (FUCK YOU MORGANA I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED), none of its shortcomings were nearly enough for me to stop playing.  I got literally over 200 hours out of this game by the time I finally finished it with the platinum.  No other game this year even came close to giving me this much entertainment for my 60 dollars.  This entry took the already extremely solid gameplay of Persona 4 and fine-tuned it to near perfection.  I had a hard time imagining how they could improve on P4G but they did it.  It will be years before we ever see Persona 6, but I'm already chomping at the bit for it.

 

Runner up: Cuphead

 

I have to explain this one a little.  Cuphead is a great game in its own right, but that's not why I'm naming it as my runner up.  There are other games this year I played longer.  There are even other games this year I would say I had more fun with.  However, I just can't understate the remarkable achievement of what Studio MDHR pulled off here.  Golden Age animation is something I take a great interest in, and the way the devs replicated the look so faithfully with actual hand-drawn animation on an artist's desk is just incredible.  This was a passion project through and through, and it's produced something that I don't think we've ever really seen before in the gaming medium.  I know there are other games that emulated the aesthetic, but to my knowledge no other titles in the history of gaming have ever gotten it this accurate.  Even the music sounds like something you'd expect from a 30s cartoon.  Cuphead opened up a whole new world of possibilities, and I can't wait to see how people capitalize on it.

[TheMightyEthan]

I'll get back to you once I decide between Breath of the Wild and Prey.

[TCP]

I know this will come as a shock for everyone but I'm going with...

 

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

 

[Mal]

HOLLOW KNIGHT

Starts slow but evolves into one of the best metrovania of all time. The music, the style and the tight combat is ace. I call this a classic in the making.

 

Runner up: NieR: Automata

This is another possible classic but to me it is brought down by technical issues which shouldn't be. One other thing that bring it down is the complex but under utilized combat mechanics. It is there but never brought out in the forefront even when it makes total sense to. It didn't have to be over the top like Bayonetta or DMC but it should've had something. Lastly is that enemies can be quite spongy yet you can kite the stronger ones forever.

 

The contrasting paragraphs sizes between my choice and runner-up should be telling. I want NieR: Automata to be a stronger contender because it is amazing. Hollow Knight is also ace but my issues with it are minor compared to Nier.

 

BotW is a strong game as well. Best open world game, period. Zelda elements to me is a bit lacking though. However the next Zelda should be GOAT if Nintendo learn and improve on BotW. I can only be disappointed and that scares me.

[deanb]

Horizon: Zero Dawn

 

Just a very very solid game. Got great active improvement by the developers, some great locations, pretty as hell, lance reddick, a neat story I'm excited to learn more of in future, and some neat enemy designs, and hey it's a game my younger sister has managed to get a decent way through too. I know that it kind of repeats elements we've seen in other open-world games, especially from the house of Ubisoft, but it heavily refines many of them to a beautiful sheen.

Probably gonna grab Frozen Wilds over the christmas break too, depending on how things shake out.

 

Runner Up

Final Fantasy XII

Surely a bit of a cheat.

 

As for Prey it's a game I'm enjoying playing but waaayyy too many issues I'm working past in it, but will post more thoughts on that as and when I complete it.

[Mr. GOH!]

Horizon Zero Dawn for sure.

[toxicitizen]

Hmm, I know which games I want to mention as runner up or honorable mention but I'm honestly not sure about my top pick. There's two titles I'm hesitating between and I feel like I should at least play Prey before making a final decision. But I'm already in the middle of like 3 games and there's less than 2 weeks left to the year... 

[Mister Jack]

I'm glad to hear Hollow Knight gets better because I played the beginning and it bored me enough to make me quit. Maybe I should go back to it.

[Mal]

I honestly stopped playing for a bit but then I pushed on. The rest is history.

 

Also GOTY that I didn't play:

Spoiler

Earth Defense Force 5

Game need to come over already.

[TheMightyEthan]

@FLD I'm feeling similar about Wolfenstein 2.  I'm not very far into it, and so far it's excellent so I know it could be a contender, but I don't think there's any way I'm going to finish it before the end of the year.

[Hot Heart]

Umm, by default... Destiny 2

 

But if we're allowing tabletop games then it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past.

 

[Mal]

Honorable Mention: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

 

I've thought about it some (it has been on my mind as I was working my way to finish it) and I think I should mention it. In a different universe where I've done things a bit differently and have slightly different preferences, this totally could've taken GOTY. Despite all its flaws and me being me, I can see that.

[TheMightyEthan]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

There were a ton of great games this year (I have way too many runners up), but in the end it kinda had to be Zelda.  I mean, I played it twice, and I never do that anymore, let alone in the same year.  Everything about it is just so enjoyable, it really sucks you in, despite on paper sounding like something that would just be another Ubi-like.  It's not without it's flaws (I wish there were more proper dungeons, I don't think the shrines fill that gap), but it's overall strength more than makes up for it.

 

Runners Up:

Dishonored: Death of the Outsider - I hope this isn't the end of the Dishonored franchise, but if it is it's a fitting send-off.

Horizon: Zero Dawn - The setting's great, the take on the open world formula is great

Human Resource Machine - My only complaint about this game is that I wish there was more of it.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - The 0%/50%/100% to-hit chances were a stroke of brilliance, you never feel like you're getting screwed by the RNG.

Persona 5 - It's just so goddamned stylish, and fun.  I actually came into this thread planning to name P5 as my GOTY.

Prey - Talos I just feels like such an authentic place, I loved exploring it.

Sonic Mania - They perfectly captured the feel of the Genesis Sonic games, both the good parts and the bad.

 

Honorable Mention:

Wolfenstein 2 - I'm generally fairly shooter-averse, so the fact that this is even on here should tell you how good it is.

[toxicitizen]

At this point my attention is just all over the place and I think the only game I have a realistic chance of finishing before the end of the year is Tokyo Xanadu, so I'm just gonna make my picks now.

 

GOTY - Nier:Automata

I hesitated between this and Resident Evil 7 but ultimately this was a much stronger experience for me. RE7 lost way too much steam near the end and had nowhere near as strong of an impact on me. The last few routes of Automata were just pure fucking madness. It's the closest any game I've played has come to matching MGS2 in that regard.

 

Runner-ups - Resident Evil 7

Obviously, since I actually considered picking it for GOTY. It wasn't perfect but it was a solid return to form for the series, which I think is more than anyone could've realistically expected. The things it did right, it did really right. It's gonna be really interesting to see if they learned the right lessons and how they handle the next one.

 

Falcom 

2017 was the year of Falcom and gave us not one but two Trails releases. None of these games stand out individually as GOTY candidates but the series as a whole is definitely one of my all-time favorites. If it wasn't for Nier being so freaking good, I might have actually given my GOTY as a tie to 3rd and Cold Steel like I joked about earlier this year. And that's not even counting Ys Seven, Tokyo Xanadu and Zwei. Ys VIII would be included as well if it wasn't for NISA royally fucking everything up about its release. I don't think it'll be possible for any other year to top this one in terms of Falcom goodness.

 

Hollow Knight

One of the best (maybe even the best) metroidvanias I've ever played, no exaggeration. This would've likely been my GOTY if it had come out any other year.

 

Honorable mention - Nioh

I'm counting this one separately because I haven't actually finished it yet. I got distracted from it and haven't gone back to it yet. It's a pretty damn solid Souls-like and I feel like it would've been a GOTY candidate if I had gotten into it more than I have. I'm not even sure why I didn't because I really enjoyed the time I put into it. It just hasn't sucked me in as much as the Souls series has, I guess.

[CorgiShinobi]

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I mean, it's my new favorite game of all time, so of course it's my GOTY 2017.

 

It's slow to start with easily breakable weapons, but it's all uphill from there. While I would say having more "dungeons" would be nice, I liked searching for the shrines and completing most of the puzzles. I haven't even played all the DLC yet; the base game by itself is GOTY material.

 

Honorable Mentions:

 

Cuphead

While the gameplay is challenging and in some light thrilling, there's an element of luck to it. Still, the fact that all the animation is actually drawn and the music is faithful to the era of classic animation. I still hum the DIe House theme to myself from time to time.

 

Resident Evil VII

It was frightening at first, then went back to being more of an action game. Still excellent and did not disappoint. However, I absolutely dislike when storyline DLC comes out long after the initial release of a game. Not a Hero was suppose to be spring, but almost a year later it comes out. (It's still free though.)

 

I Need to Finish:

 

NieR: Automata

I haven't finished it yet, but the combat, style, and its very progression is stunning.

 

Super Mario Odyssey

I need to play this and it bothers me that I've gone this long already.

[MetalCaveman]

Fate/Extella

I didn't play that many games released this year, so by default, this is my GOTY. It's really fun, the story is pretty cool and is a really cool continuation from Extra, the side-stories are funny and offer some breaks from what happens in the main paths, and though the gameplay is pretty simple, it makes it easy to get into, the kind of game you can just pick up and play.

 

Runner Up:

 

Ghost Recon Wildlands

It has the same issues that a lot of other Ubisoft open world games have, but it's still pretty fun, specially if you play it in coop and abandon any pretense of stealth. The Predator mission was fucking awesome too.