Your 2017 Game(s) of the Year!

[Claytone]

Should probably chime in to update that NieR Automata is immediately in the running for me and I haven't even finished it yet. GT Sport will likely get a nod as well, if the expected major content update hits when expected (mid-December).

NieR seems extremely up my alley. Can't wait to play it. 2017 has just been an embarrassment of riches, though, so I haven't even bought it yet.

[VictorViper]

Should probably chime in to update that NieR Automata is immediately in the running for me and I haven't even finished it yet. GT Sport will likely get a nod as well, if the expected major content update hits when expected (mid-December).

NieR seems extremely up my alley. Can't wait to play it. 2017 has just been an embarrassment of riches, though, so I haven't even bought it yet.

I nabbed it at 40% off because I couldn't stand waiting anymore, but there's plenty of room and time for things to drop lower. It ain't going anywhere. Unless you need a physical copy, I guess.

[The Shoemaker]

I forgot we had started this so early!

So far I've mentioned

Zelda breath of the Wild
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fire Emblem Echoes
Metroid Samus Returns
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

Now that it has been a month, I have to add Super Mario Odyssey to this list. This game was pure joy. The first 20 hours or so was just discovery after discovery. It's a game that's simply just fun to play, no matter what you're doing. After 100% completing it I'm still excited to jump back into it. Really it's between this game and Breath of the Wild for my top game of the year, but I'm not ready to commit to that yet.

[SkyPikachu]

I've played 11 2017 games this year.

1. Super Mario Odyssey
2. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Beat)
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild
4. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
5. Star Wars Battlefront II (Beat)
6. Fast RMX
7. Kamiko (Beat)
8. South Park Phone Destroyer
9. Cuphead
10. Yooka-Laylee
11. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Deleted from phone)

Edit: Games yet to play

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[Sharecrow]

My favorite 2017 releases so far are:
Tales of Berseria - one of the best Tales games I've played
What Remains of Edith Finch - a short but haunting game that sticks with you

My favorite older gems I finally got to in 2017 are:
Layers of Fear - unnerving and complex...this one sticks with you too
Life is Strange - I sort of fell in love with this game steadily as I played it. I'm shocked I haven't preordered its sequel.
Tales from the Borderlands - this is, so far, the best Telltale game I've played. It was delightfully fun and hilarious. I had trouble stopping.

I do have high hopes for Evil Within 2 and Assassin's Creed: Origins. I'll chime in on those later.

I do love both Evil Within 2 and Assassins’s Creed: Origins. I think the crown goes to Tales of Berseria though...

[Kreegs]

Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Odyssey
Golf Story
Sonic Mania
Splatoon 2

The problem for me as that all these game are so good and so fun, I hardly had time to play much of anything else! Super hard for me to pick between Zelda and Mario. I’m leaning towards Zelda, but then something happens in Mario that swings the pendulum back that way. What an amazing predicament to be in!

[Jordan]

I completed 10 games in 2017 but probably played between 15-20. My favorite is a toss up between Super Mario Odyssey and Persona 5.

[SkyPikachu]

I've played 11 2017 games this year.

1. Super Mario Odyssey
2. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Beat)
3. The Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild
4. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
5. Star Wars Battlefront II (Beat)
6. Fast RMX
7. Kamiko (Beat)
8. South Park Phone Destroyer
9. Cuphead
10. Yooka-Laylee
11. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Deleted from phone)

Edit: Games yet to play

• Horizon Zero Dawn
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2

After beating SMO and playing a bit of Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5 I decided to redo the list.

I moved Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle to 1st above SMO. After beating it I felt like I enjoyed M+R KB a lot more than SMO and it felt like a more solid game where as SMO felt like more of the same in a way. Persona 5 has been really interesting so far and I wouldn't be surprised if I named it GOTY after finishing it however being only 2 hours in I felt I couldn't put it higher than SMO. Horizon Zero Dawn has been what I expected as well a lot harder (or I suck) than I expected these 4 games have really stood out as the contenders over the other games I've played.

Small thing about Zelda is I really hate a lot about it the weapons breaking the climbing towers is annoying and the lack of full big dungeons really saddens me. I feel like Horizon Zero Dawn is doing everything so much better and I honestly can not understand the massive hype over it I feel like had it not had the Zelda brand behind it it would have been received poorly.

I've played 13 2017 games this year.

List of GOTY contenders

1. [2] Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (Completed)
2. [1] Super Mario Odyssey (Beat)
3. [NEW] Persona 5
4. [NEW] Horizon Zero Dawn

Other Games I've played

• The Legend of Zelda: Breathe of the Wild
• Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
• Star Wars Battlefront II (Beat)
• Fast RMX
• Kamiko (Beat)
• South Park Phone Destroyer
• Cuphead
• Yooka-Laylee
• Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Deleted from phone)

Games yet to play that I plan on playing

• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
• Metroid: Samus Returns
• South Park: The Fractured but Whole
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2

[The Shoemaker]

Zelda Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Odyssey
Horizon Zero Dawn
Fire Emblem Echoes
Splatoon 2
SteamWorld Dig 2
Metroid Samus Returns
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle

I think these were the games that stood out to me the most this year, in terms of new releases. Shout out to Xenoblade 2 which looks to be pretty promising, and Fire Emblem Warriors which is sucking up a lot of my time.

I've been meaning to talk about the best games I played in 2017 that didn't release in 2017 as well.

Bloodborne: A game I started out not liking very much and returning to almost a year later to love it.

The Elder Scolls V Skyrim: Playing this game on Switch this year was a joy. So many quests to do and unique events to see. It's dated and hanky, but still immensely enjoyable.

Paper Mario color Splash: one of the last Wii U games I played? It's not the exact style I want for Paper Mario, but what was there was great. The writing was too notch humour wise, and the music was very catchy. I just loved the scenarios the game threw you in. Now we just need the thousand year door gameplay back.

The Legend of Zelda: I beat this classic for the first time this year and it held up very well. It was very interesting playing this right before breath of the wild and seeing some of the similarities.

Shadow of Mordor: I got hooked on this in the summer. The gameplay loop with the nemesis system really works wonders.

It was a great year for new releases, but also a great year for me to look back on some games I missed.

[Kong Wen]

Here's my finalized list:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
2. Fire Emblem Heroes
3. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
4. Flywrench
5. Reigns: Her Majesty sneaking in here at the end of the year
...
X. Destiny 2 is at an undisclosed position below games I would theoretically have enjoyed, like NieR and Persona, simply to cement its disappointingness.