I'm late, sorry, but 2017 took some getting over because it was so utterly nonsensical
from start to finish.
I give that year six out of ten.
Anyway, here's a quick and dirty list of my 13 - lucky for some - favourite games of
last year.
Which is 2017.
In case you're watching in some kind of space year from the future.
Enough babble, here's a list.
With a super-quick segue for two special mentions: Mass Effect Andromeda for not being quite
as bad as the internet decided, and Star Wars Battlefront II for hilariously melting the
internet at the end of the year.
Number thirteen: Sniper Elite 4 Everything I say about this game is tainted
by the fact I worked on the PR for it in the UK, so there's some disclosure for you.
On the other hand, I'm no longer paid to love this game and yet I do.
It's so much fun for mucking about, it satisfies that lizard part of my brain that wants to
see ludicrous violence and it is absolutely the right kind of silly.
Number twelve Stardew Valley This one's cheating as it's a 2016 release,
but then my list my rules, deal with it.
Anyway, Stardew Valley re-released on Switch in 2017 and reminded me just why I love it
so very much.
Farming is cool and you know it.
Also I still have no time for relationships because crops matter too much, and neatness
is secondary to efficient blueberry positioning.
Facts.
Number eleven South Park: The Fractured But Whole
I wasn't as surprised by this one as I was the Stick of Truth, but then that is actually
a good thing.
And hey, I know someone as cool and funky as me isn't allowed to like South Park anymore
because Twitter said so, but I do love it.
It's hard not to after 20 years.
But not to get bogged down in that, the Fractured But Whole is great fun, and short enough to
not demand 500 hours.
Which is actually hypocritical for this list, as you'll soon find out.
Number ten Golf Story It's Everybody's Golf the RPG, therefore
is life.
Number nine XCOM 2: War of the Chosen I actually forgot this game existed, it came
out in the summer, I got it, then other things happened and I lost my concentration.
Anyway, I started playing it over the festive break and it's absolutely brilliant, adding
in a bunch of daft new story stuff and progression and development mechanics to mix things up
a bit.
Plus your troops can become bestie friends, which is sweet until they die.
Number eight Undertale (PS Vita) Another cheeky entry, but this did re-release
on PS Vita in 2017 so it counts.
Basically I'd been waiting years for the opportunity to play Undertale, and boshing
it out on the commute worked out perfectly.
In fact, I played through it twice without stopping from one playthrough to the next,
which is ridiculous for me as I have no attention sp… ooh shiny.
Number seven Mario Odyssey Yes, seventh.
Now this is only so low because I haven't played it properly and in full, thus meaning
once again everything I say about it is null and void.
Still, what I have played is showing itself to be absolutely stunningly brilliant and
almost - though not quite - as good as the Nintendo Defence Force says it is.
I mean, it'd never be as good as they say, but it's nearly there.
Number six What Remains of Edith Finch I ignored this, as I'm a bad man, but eventually
listened to the hype from the sorts of people I am prone to listening to.
They were right.
The hype was right.
I'm still digesting both the game itself and the fact that other people were right
about something being really good.
Who knew?
It's a great story wrapped around a great bunch of stories, and telling you anything
about it would ruin it.
Just play it, yeah?
Number five Wolfenstein II I haven't laughed so hard at a game while
enjoying ultraviolence against Nazis in... ever.
This is the best single-player shooter in years and has one of the daftest, best stories
in any game I've ever played.
Punch more Nazis in 2018.
Number four Yakuza 0 You bowl a turkey to win a chicken that you
then use to manage part of your property empire.
You also have some fine bromance action throughout.
Yakuza 0 is prime Yakuza brilliance.
Number three PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds The full game came out in December and everyone
cried because it didn't massively change overnight from its Early Access guise.
But hey, Battlegrounds is absolutely brilliant fun, even if I'm terrible at it, and I was
so very wrong about it initially I want to apologise forever.
Instead I'll just play it more, that's easier.
Number two Divinity: Original Sin II Here's the 500-hour RPG hypocrisy, for those
paying attention.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is one of the best cRPGs in memory, an absolute tour-de-force
and loads of other hyperbole I can't be bothered to spout right now.
It's made with passion, ability, wit and skill and I absolutely adore it - plus it
can last you 500 hours if you let it and… oh, damn, I'm a hypocrite.
Number one Zelda: Breath of the Wild I mean, I still refuse to say this means I
like Zelda games, as I don't think I do.
But Breath of the Wild is the best game of the year for me, bar none.
Endlessly creative, open enough to allow me to muck about a lot - I may have mentioned
I love mucking about - and the sort of thing that lets you ride on trees if you game the
system enough.
Also the ability to climb almost any surface needs to be added to every future game, otherwise
I'll get pissed off with not being able to do it.
I have spoken.
That may be the list proper, but I'm book-ending it with a few more special mentions because
I get to make up my rules as I go along.
So you've got FTL Faster Than Light and Metal Gear Solid V in the specials, as I'll
never stop playing either of them so they'll always be in my top list.
There's also an unspecial mention to Football Manager 2018, as it's not a game I play
and more of just a thing I do to survive.
See also Skyrim on Switch, which really would have been in the main list were it not for
the fact that to me it isn't a game - it's more a natural function for me, like breathing,
or pooing - which coincidentally is something I can now do while playing Skyrim on Switch.
Portability is our true saviour here.
Thanks for watching and listening with your face and bits, and maybe reading if you use
subtitles.
Hello subtitle people!
I hope my subtitles are useful to you, for whatever reason you might need to use them.
Please do like, share, subscribe, all that jazz, and I'll see you in the next video
which will either be about something in 2018 or, like, 1992.
I'm not decided yet.
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