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2017 has been an incredibly busy year for videogames, and unsurprisingly I didn’t end up playing the vast majority of new releases.
Of those that I did play there are a few obvious standouts, along with some that I feel deserve an honourable mention. With that said, here are my top 5 games of the year (in no particular order).
Danganronpa V3 (Review)
A welcome return to form for the Danganronpa series after some pretty terrible spin-offs. Danganronpa V3 may not have the best cast of the main games and the middle chapters are a little weak, but the overall narrative makes up for these shortcomings.
Ys VIII (Review)
The Ys series has always been a favourite of mine, and Ys VIII is another excellent action RPG. The localisation is unfortunately a little sloppy, but once the re-localisation patch comes out next year Ys VIII will be one the best Ys games of all time.
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Future Tone (Review)
The Project DIVA games are some of the most accessible, and more importantly fun, rhythm games I’ve ever played. Future Tone takes the majority of songs from the series’ extensive tracklist and combines them into the definite Project DIVA experience. The increased difficulty is especially welcoming after the rather easy Project DIVA X.
Persona 5 (Review)
After many delays, Persona 5 was finally released in the west. Refining many elements from Persona 3 and 4, the game offered a stylish JRPG experience that few other games can match. It’s another release this year that suffered from localisation issues, but the overall package is excellent.
NieR: Automata
It took me a long time to finally start Automata, but it was certainly worth the wait. A sequel to NieR was never something I expected, developed by Platinum Games no less, though the end result was something special. While I still prefer the original game overall, Automata is a more than worthy successor.
Honourable Mentions
Mary Skelter: Nightmares (Review)
A mechanically strong dungeon crawler with an interesting setting, Mary Skelter was a surprisingly good release from Compile Heart and Idea Factory. If the game’s story didn’t fall flat nearer the end, and the usual Compile Heart technical issues weren’t present, then Mary Skelter would have been a stronger contender for my games of the year.
The Sexy Brutale (Review)
Having heard little about The Sexy Brutale, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect once starting it. By the end though, I was impressed by the story the game manages to tell during its short runtime. Technical issues, at least with the PS4 version, hold the game back somewhat but The Sexy Brutale is still a great game.
Bayonetta and Vanquish PC (Re views)
Kinda cheating here, but the PC ports of Bayonetta and Vanquish deserve to be mentioned here. Both games are excellent on PC, with Vanquish feeling like it was made for mouse and keyboard play. It is unfortunate that PC players of Bayonetta miss out on the extras from the Wii U release, but the better graphics and performance more than make up for it.
2017 Releases That I Want to Play Next Year
There are many Switch games I’d like to play when I eventually buy the system. Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade 2 will likely be my first choices for games to get first.
Yakuza 0 and Kiwami (Review)
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a Yakuza game, and 0 seems like a good way to re-introduce myself to the series. Yakuza games have always been fun, and it should be interesting to play as Majima outside of the terrible Dead Souls spin-off.
Tokyo Xanadu eX+
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’d want to play this, since I enjoyed Ys VIII so much. Tokyo Xanadu also seems similar to Persona, another series that made its way into my games of the year. As for Falcom releases, I’m hoping Trails of Cold Steel III gets announced for a western release next year.