Your 2017 GOTY List

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Your 2017 GOTY List

PostPosted: Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:46 pm

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M.Steiner
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There's still a bunch of 2017 titles I need to play (PUBG, Wolfenstein II: The New Order, Battle Chasers: Nightwar, The Sexy Brutale, Detention, Hidden Agenda - to name but a few) but it would be silly to wait until I've played every 2017 release I wanna play, as I wouldn't be posting this for ages yet lol. So here's my top 10 2017 GOTY list based on what I have played :)
1. Persona 5
Stylish as hell, addictive gameplay, really likeable cast of characters and the best JRPG I've played in a long, long time.

2. Yakuza 0
Incredibly well written with a nice mix of serious storytelling & humour. Really happy to see this reach so many new fans.

3. NieR: Automata
Really unique & engaging story with fun & fluid combat & a phenomenal soundtrack to go with it. Was thinking about this game for a long time after finishing it.

4. Cuphead
Stunning hand-drawn art & animations with some very challenging & rewarding gameplay. Gorgeous game through & through.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
A few grievances here & there but its sandbox approach to the open-world genre & focus on exploration was absolutely fantastic.

6. Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Was cautiously optimistic going in and whilst I'm still not sure whether I prefer this or the original (both had their strong points), I think Deck Nine handled it especially well.

7. Horizon Zero Dawn
Loved Aloy, pretty decent story, the gameworld was beautiful & interesting to explore & learn about and the gameplay was lots of fun.

8. Assassin's Creed Origins
Beautifully designed gameworld with some really good changes & new additions to the series. Side quests could do with some work for next time but a great return to form which exceeded my expectations by quite a way.

9. Prey
Everything I would have wanted from a new System Shock or BioShock but with a bit of Dishonored thrown in there too. For me, 2017s most underrated title.

10. Resident Evil VII: Biohazard
The best RE game since 4.
Honorable mentions: Night in the Woods & What Remains of Edith Finch. I decided not to include remasters & only focus on *new* releases otherwise Okami HD would definitely be on there too.

Here's a selection of screenshots I took in some of the above games too - more like them in the screenshot thread if you haven't been following it!
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Let's see those lists! :)
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Re: Your 2017 GOTY List

PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 2:37 pm

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Anubis
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These are so difficult for me to answer these days, as I seem to get through games so slowly and always struggle to fill a list!

I'll do my best though, out of everything I've played for the first time in 2017 - not necessarily what was RELEASED in 2017. I'll go for a top 5 as that's all I could really manage :)
1. Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
I talked about this a lot in the screenshots thread, so I'm not going to regurgitate my thoughts again, but suffice to say I was initially nervous Deck Nine would mess it up, but they really hit a home run. For me it's better than the original (which was already my favourite game of all time), and I can't say enough good things about it. Easily my pick of the year.

2. Yakuza 0
This was pretty great, and dragged me into the series as a whole (still need to play Kiwami). I got distracted by all the side content for what felt like months, and it took me SO LONG to complete as a result, but the core story just got stronger as it went and by the end I was completely into it. Really enjoyable.

3. Football Manager 2017 Touch
It kind of is what it is, and I don't have much to say about it, but it's hard to argue with 134 hours played in less than 12 months. As addicting as ever.

4. South Park: The Fractured But Whole
I'm still playing this, which is why it's below FM (I can't really fully judge it yet). It's enjoyable, and I AM having fun, but it's not as good as the first for me. Worth a playthrough, but I wish they'd let Obsidian run with it again.

5. Uncharted The Lost Legacy
This was decent, but two main gripes with it have me put it last. Firstly, they basically ripped the gameplay off Rise of the Tomb Raider in some areas. Second, it's just not as good without Drake - the story just never really grabbed me like 4 did. Worth playing, yes, but don't expect miracles.
Honorable mentions: Stellaris Utopia & Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PC). I've played both of these before, but not in the manner I played them this year (Utopia was an expansion I hadn't played, Vice City I've not played on PC before). I definitely enjoyed my time with them, and in the case of Stellaris sunk another 20+ hours into it, but I'm not sure they're quite enough to make the list.

Dishonorable mention: Nier Automata. Sorry for those who liked it, but it was just tedious and dull. As a rule I almost never give up on games once I've started them but the idea of playing this through twice more after I beat it the first time was abhorrent to me, and I knew I'd end up dragging it out for months due to lack of desire to play. I really don't get why people praised this game, but each to their own!

I still have a bunch of stuff to play from this year including stuff like Yakuza Kiwami, Persona 5, CoD WW2, and Horizon Zero Dawn. I would imagine that most of them will make next year's list :lol:
"Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward....therefore!" - Lelouch vi Britannia/Zero, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch

Forever an eXile and proud of it!

Re: Your 2017 GOTY List

PostPosted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 6:32 pm

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M.Steiner
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Anubis wrote:Dishonorable mention: Nier Automata. Sorry for those who liked it, but it was just tedious and dull. As a rule I almost never give up on games once I've started them but the idea of playing this through twice more after I beat it the first time was abhorrent to me, and I knew I'd end up dragging it out for months due to lack of desire to play. I really don't get why people praised this game, but each to their own!
Nier's "endings" are a bit misleading as the game doesn't actually end when you think it does, they're more like chapter breaks with the end of Route A being one of them.

When you reach the end of Route A with 2B, you start Route B which is a (shorter) chapter of those same events from Route A but from 9S's perspective. You learn new things which are important to the overall story and have some different side-quests too, all of which help fill in the story going forward. You are not restarting the game with Route B (say, playing all the way through an RPG and then replaying it whilst making different choices - this is not the same), and whilst Route B can be seen as a replay (to some degree), it is not exactly the same and it's part of the same playthrough.

When you've played A & B, you start Route C which continues the game where A & B left off. So when you say 'playing this through twice more after I beat it the first time' - First, you wouldn't be playing the game through another two times after reaching the end of Route A, just once (kind of) with Route B and its differences but you haven't started a new game there, and second, you haven't beaten it a first time. Route A & B are basically the first half of the game played from different perspectives to help you understand the story & its characters more, Route C+ is the second half of the game which is all new.

Besides the phenomenal soundtrack, the beauty in Nier is in its genius way of presenting its story (which in itself is part of the story, like how you save your game), and its thought provoking narrative & philosophy. By dropping the game during Route A it's not hard to understand why you don't understand the love it gets, because you've essentially not seen much of it and haven't actually experienced any of those 'endings' you seem to have misunderstood.
Imagine when coming to the end of episode 5 of Life is Strange (think of LiS Eps 1-5 as chapter 1), that the game appears to start again but you get to play through it with Chloe instead (chapter 2). Re-experiencing some of the same conversations you had before but from her perspective, but also with new cutscenes, dialogue & backstory which you didn't see before - ultimately giving you the same kind of information that Before the Storm did which has recontextualized parts of Life is Strange & how we look at that now. Now imagine when coming to the end of Chloe's chapter (2), that the game continued from where both of those left off and went into an imaginary Life is Strange 2 sequel with them (chapter 3 in this example), and that all 3 of these chapters are part of the same game and same playthrough. There you have Nier :)
All being said, if you found what you played of Route A 'tedious and dull' as you say, perhaps the game just wasn't for you anyway. I might suggest you watch a let's play of it though (A through E) so you can see first hand what I'm talking about without having to physically play it yourself :thumb:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

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