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MisterIceTeaPeach
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If my profile pic and signature didn't make it obvious, my GOTY is Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Just to start, if you had told me that this game would be releasing this year, i wouldn't have believed you. In fact, probably no one would've. Everyone expected this game to be released in 2018. But Monolith Soft did the impossible and released this behemoth of a game in the year it was announced. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was the reason i bought a Switch. And the wait was worth it. Great story, fantastic characters, beautiful world, God-tier music, amazing gameplay. I personally rate this game higher than the original Xenoblade, as it pretty much improves upon the original in most aspects. The voice acting isn't as good as the original's but it's still good and all the different accents helped really immerse me in Xenoblade 2's beautiful world. The main story took me about 95 hours to complete but i am far from done with this game. I still have several Rare Blades to obtain, quests to complete, Superbosses to kill, Secret Viewpoints to find. This game is gonna keep me busy for a long time and that's not even counting the DLC. I haven't bought the Season Pass (as all it's doing right now is just handing out extra items) but once that Rare Blade and Story DLC kick in, it's probably gonna add another 50 to 100+ hours. It's also thanks to this game that the Xenoblade series is now my #1 favorite video game series of all time, dethroning the original holder of that title, which was Fire Emblem. I love this game and i'll patiently await the next Xenoblade game, whether it be Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or Xenoblade Chronicles X2 I haven't played X but shhh. 

If you have shown even the tiniest bit of interest in this game, i 100% recommend that you play it. I personally believe it to be the best game on the Switch right now.

On a side note, playing Xenolade 2 really makes me want to go and play Xenogears and Xenosaga, particularly the latter because KOS-MOS is a Blade in Xenoblade 2 and i want to know more about her.

Edit: alright, i'm gonna link some Xenoblade 2 songs in here because you all need to listen to this beautiful soundtrack

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by Armagon
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Breath of the Wild. I frankly didn't get many new games this year (I also don't have a Switch; so my options were limited) but Breath of the Wild blew me away in almost all categories. I've been playing it since a little after launch and I'm still discovering new and fun aspects about it.

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Since the Switch came out this year, this is the first year in a long time where I played so many current-year titles. I'm usually digging into my backlog or retro collection 90-98% of the time. But the GOTY is clear to me. Mario Odyssey. Way more polished than Persona 5 or Breath of the Wild in my experience, and those are my second and third picks respectively. In fact, I wrote my personal top ten 2017 list for something else:

Spoiler
  1. Super Mario Odyssey
  2. Persona 5
  3. Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  4. Metroid: Samus Returns
  5. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
  6. Fire Emblem Echoes
  7. Mr. Shifty
  8. Golf Story
  9. Mario + Rabbids
  10. Splatoon 2

And I guess honorable mentions to Pokemon Ultra Moon, Fire Emblem Warriors, Sonic Mania, and Yooka Laylee, but at this point we're swimming in high 7/10s.

2017 high profile games I did not find time to buy/play even though I still want to: Nier: Automata, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Injustice 2, Marvel vs Capcom: Infinte, Cuphead, Wolfenstein 2, Resident Evil 7

Edited by Glennstavos
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I don't have a for-sure winner, but The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild would probably be my choice. Other possibilities include Metroid: Samus Returns, Gravity Rush 2, Horizon Zero Dawn (though I do say BotW is better than HZD), and Fire Emblem Warriors as a personal extra favorite. I like what I've played so far of Nier: Automata but haven't gotten far enough to judge it yet. I've played a good amount of Super Mario Odyssey and it's fun, but I wouldn't pick it for GOTY.

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GOTY 2017 : Divinity Original Sin 2

I have a very complicated relationship with RPGs that I can't really explain without its own thread. The bottom line is- when I recommend things to other people, I cherry picked base on researching THEIR preferences Granted I limit myself to the very many things that I have played myself. When it comes to my OWN preferences, only Wizardry 8 and Divinity Original Sin (2014) cross the threshold of being all-time great games. I tend to prefer RPGs for the beauty of their mechanics and gameplay design than story. I have fond memories of BAD games that still had good engines (Silent Storm / Jagged Alliance 2). The Promise of those games personally helps me to enjoy them more than something like Final Fantasy 6 despite their sometimes appalling misteps. With Western RPGS you tend to find that either Gameplay>story (Most) or Story>gameplay (Baldur's Gate and the other Black Isle games). Divinity 2, like the first Divinity, is one of the few WRPGs to really make an effort in both departments. It is  IMO a little toned down since the first one, but it does things to move the genre forward, and still provides a truly meaty experience. 

Most played in 2017 (released in 2017) - Divinity Original Sin 2 , Breath of The Wild , Persona 5 , Super Mario Odyssey , Puyo Puyo Tetris. Fire Emblem Heroes.

Comment - Breath of The Wild has my favorite combat design in the Zelda franchise already, but I have to admit I don't like the open-world design very much... it felt like it asked you to "make your own fun" too much and I really missed having objectives. I ended up playing the game straightforwardly and just railroading from Divine Beast to Divine Beast. I remember being disappointed with the Blight Gannon Boss fights, because even the first one (water blight) I went into over prepared (due to putting that Lynel guarding the shock arrows) Even with only 5 hearts and 20 arrows, The sheer power of the Lynel bow kind of trivialized the boss fight. I have mixed feelings about dodge>Fury Rush - it kind of creates the problems that the overly useful shield did in the N64/GCN Zelda games with over centralizing combat.  Persona 5 strikes me as decent fun but I will probably scalp it on amazon after finishing my first play through. (ETA 8-10 days)  Super Mario Odyssey delighted me and I'm still playing it. I liked it more than Sunshine/Galaxy, mostly because I felt like I was actually being dumped into the levels to explore as in 64 instead of being sent to complete a "run".  Puyo Puyo Tetris was a big surprise, and is unbelievably good, in my personal opinion better than any JRPG or Nintendo IP this year. Fire Emblem Heroes gave me 4 weeks of fun on my 2013 Android before the Winter's Envoy banner  made the app too big for me to update. Still twice as long as I spent on Most mainline games, and infernals/squad assault/double chapter chain challenges unironically required me to use more effort and strategy than most of the mainline FE games including some of those with a reputation for difficulty....  

Most played in 2017(released other year) Future Tactics: The Uprising. Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim , Meteos , Pokemon Online , Stephen's Sausage Roll, Mario Party 3 , Timesplitters 2.

Comment - I returned to Future Tactics this year because I wanted to be able to say that I beat the second playthrrough due to it technically having different mechanics. Also that music. I played tons of Majesty because I saw someone in the forums for it asking for help with a level (and then anothter level..) so I made a bunch of guides and screenshots. Meteos is a game that I like to keep in easy reach at all times. Some days I can't get to bed without grabbing 100,000 points on some level or other in Deluge mode. I played the smogon people on Pokmemon mostly through the Ruins of Alph Past gens tour. Stephen's Sausage Roll I played to back up my claims last year. Mario Party 3 just happened when I invited people over, nothing complicated. Timesplitters 2 was pretty much  the 2 player story mode on Hard (with some runs on normal to train my partner). Just wanted it checked off the status screen to go along with the 1 player story mode. 

Final Thoughts - 

Puyo Puyo Tetris VS Divinity 2 is almost as hard as DOOM vs Stephen's Sausage Roll for my 2016 GOTY... However, while I think that the minor bonus modes of PPT are quite solid in themselves and superior in quality to entire lesser puzzle games,  at heart, playing it in Puyo Puyo Tsu mode is where it's at, and I've been doing that on Puyo Puyo VS forever. 

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... How many games from 2017 did I even play?

I can think of...

  • TLoZ: BotW
  • FE Echoes: SoV
  • Tekken 7
  • FE Heroes

And I plan to acquire both FE Warriors and Supra Mayro Odessa before the year is done, so the jury's still out on the top favorite.

If I had to choose... then my brain would probably explode.  There aren't clear winners.

- Breath of the Wild was absolutely fantastic and fun while I was playing through it, but I just... stopped.  I'll probably come back to it someday, but as of right now I don't know if I like it as much as some of the older titles.

- Echoes was, for me, a critically mixed bag, but was otherwise a lot of fun for me.  Just thinking about it makes me wish the Whitewings were in FE Warriors, even though I know that would just mean even more clones.  Heck, it makes me wish more than Celica was in it; I hope they do a DLC where we get some Echoes characters... maybe to fill some unfulfilled niches.  I would like to come back to SoV, but unlike Fates or Awakening, I think I need to take a long break before I can get back into it.

- Tekken was fine, but as I'm not much of an online gamer, I didn't get as much use out of it as I could.  I did sorta turn Kazumi into the 'Boro, which was interesting.  Also made Kazuya into Vegeta like I always do.  It's sort of a shame they kind of went the SC V route and removed quite a few characters to make room for some of the newer ones.  I sometimes try to get back into it... and I do have fun with it, but I don't play for long.

- I played FE Heroes until it stopped working for Bluestacks.  Well, I started slowing down quite a bit before that point.  I'm sure if I came back to it, I'd be blown away by the amount of content there is.  I get the feeling I stopped just as it was starting to get really good.  Though honestly, I've never been a fan of the tier-listing mentality, and while I know that's just something that's present in FE in general, it's much more prevalent in Heroes, so I'm somewhat glad I stopped.  Still, though...  It was also fun while it lasted.

I think I might ironically wind up liking FE Warriors or Mario Odyssey the most simply because both are so much more active and unfocused compared to the stuff I've been playing.  It'll be a break in monotony that is very much welcome.  Not that I hate slow, focused games... if I did, I wouldn't even be here.  But variety is the spice of life, and one cannot be sated by doing the same things over and over again.

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My pick would be Nier: Automata, which has some of the most engaging storytelling/writing of a recent game I've played. The gameplay's not great (it's kinda like Bayonetta except poorly balanced and very easy most of the time due to itemspam being borked) but has some neat ideas/cinematic uses, and the music is amazing, but yeah, mostly I pick it for that writing.

It's not perfect by any means and is probably one of the weaker games I'd be willing to give GotY to, but I didn't play any truly exceptional games in 2017. Runner-up is probably XCOM 2, which fixes some of (though sadly not all) of XCOM1's flaws and retains that series pseudo-Fire Emblem fun gameplay. The trio of new Fire Emblems I played probably come next in some order.

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I can only think of two games this year that where truly outstanding enough to deserve this title. 

Divinity Original Sin 2

The legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 

I also want to mention Persona 5 as although I haven't been able to play it (stupid exclusives) I have watched a lets play and I really want to play it. 

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I'd say a tie between FE15 and Ultra Sun/Moon. FE15 because it is a great game, and Ultra Sun/Moon is a polished, better version of Sun/Moon.

Except the generic trainer battle music. It sounds too slow now. Good thing they used the old one when you battle the Trial Captains.

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Games played : Echoes SoV, USUM (currently playing), Ever Oasis, and Etrian Odyssey V.

Of those games, EOV is definitely my GOTY. This game is a real lesson of Game design, with confident, carefully constructed levels. They doesn't feels the need to explain you how everything works, let you figure the puzzles yourselves, and it is just far more satisfying.
It is challenging constantly, but it rarely feels unfair (some random encounters can destroy you in a matter of seconds, but otherwise it's fine.). I've played in basic mode, but the difficulty ws just fine.
And, as always, it's beautifull, with an amazing track, and marvelous environment.
In short, it's Etrian Odyssey at its peak. And knowing another game is in preparation just fills me with joy.
The only shortcomming I'd see would be the story, somewhat needlessly convoluted. 

I should also finish Ever Oasis at some point... It has a great atmosphere (this desolated, abandoned land ), and it's a pretty interresting world. It's far from perfect, but it's worth a shot.

SoV was great, but I feels like it was out last year. It's a strange feeling (maybe because I finally played through PoR and RD in between). It was a great remake with fantastic execution (if there's a better world for this, please tell me.) It has fantastic art and music. The gameplay isn't the best, but I still had a good time.

Haven't finished USUM yet, but it's an excellent second version that, sadly, came out too soon, and was rejected because of it.

Edited by Tamanoir
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I don't believe I play as many games as I used to, but this has been a very good year for video games as a whole. Not only have we gotten some really stellar titles, but, if we're being optimistic as it's that time of the year, there has also been more backlash againt lootboxes recently, with politicians finally getting interested in regulations. Now, I don't really want government interference in gaming, but if it's between that and big companies being able to do what they want without any repercussions, then the choice is obvious.

Anyway, the games I played this year were: 

  1. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
  2. Fire Emblem Heroes
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
  4. Super Mario Odyssey
  5. Fire Emblem Warriors

I've also played some older games, like Binding Blade, and watched a few walkthroughs, with two noteworthy ones being Persona 5 and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, though the former I had issues with the plot and the latter did not seem to be my cup of tea at all. Sadly, I didn't play Doki Doki Literature Club for myself, but man what a ride that was; I recommend everyone with sufficient mental fortitude to try it out for themselves - it's free, after all!

Anyway, I believe my final game of the year is Breath of the Wild. The feeling of exploration and surviving the harsh environments was abolutely phenomenal, and climbing up a high point just to glide down is one of the most satisfying things I've done in gaming ever. I normally don't like open world games that much since they always seem to focus on quantity rather than quality, but Breath of the Wild manages to deliver on both, all while giving you an almost unparalleled level of freedom.

Edited by Thane
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2017: the year of games.

Okay, this is actually going to be pretty difficult, but I'll give it a go.

5.

Spoiler

Fire Emblem: Warriors.

So FE Warriors was my first ever Musou game, and the only reason I bought it was because it was under the Fire Emblem name. I knew what kinds of game Musous were prior to playing Warriors, but I never picked one up before purely because high-speed action games don't really mix well with my slow reactions. But I picked up FE Warriors anyway, and wow, I was not expecting it to be this much fun; it feels so good ploughing through vast hordes of enemies with swift strikes, and the character interactions were, for the most part, well done. The Story Mode itself is kind of mediocre, but the meat of the game is in it's History Mode. That really delivers. The presentation of the game is fantastic too--here's some of the music from this game.

Of course, no game is without flaws: while there are diverse types of playstyles, the amount of characters that have identical movesets to one another is immediately apparent, especially with lance users (in the base game, anyway). The History Mode, whilst vast, can feel repetitive at times, with objectives in the scenarios repeating far too often for my liking. But this is one of those games you can just pick up and play for an hour or so, so it's not a huge detriment for the game.

4.

Spoiler

NieR: Automata.

Like FE Warriors, NieR: Automata is another game in a genre where I don't excel in; I can't deny Platinum Games are one of the best studios in regards to high-action gameplay, but it's never been something I've excelled in. That being said, I bought the game mostly on a whim, but I had prior knowledge that Yoko Taro is a crazy man, and boy, that can't be said enough. This game will sent you on a rollercoaster full of emotions and a story that will blow your mind, and it's all because of Yoko Taro.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game isn't much of a looker. For a game in the modern generation of gaming, this game's visuals don't compare to most games. Now granted, the budget for this game wasn't anything near that of a typical AAA game, but even so, it looks like a game from the previous generation. But that's pretty much it for the presentation; the game's audio easily stands on top of the metaphorical podium, especially when it comes to it's OST. I mean, listen to these tracks. I shouldn't have to say any more. The voice acting is also brilliant, with Kyle McCarley (voices of Alm and Soren [Heroes only] for you FE nerds) stealing the show as 9S.

Something I should also mention is how excellently written the game is. No line of dialogue is without meaning--everything will eventually come around, and all dialogue is natural and brilliantly localised. Kudos to 8-4. And speaking of 8-4...

3.

Spoiler

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Shadows of Valentia, in many ways, shouldn't be above Automata; the gameplay isn't as good, the soundtrack pales in comparison (though still utterly fantastic), outside of a few exceptions, and the story is, whilst presented beautifully, is no where near Automata's. So why is it above it? Simple: I had more fun with it.

First off, while I said the presentation is overall worse than Automata's, graphically, the game trumps it; Shadows of Valentia is beautiful, and the soundtrack and voice acting back it up. Again, 8-4 headed the localisation for this game, and this might be their best work, in my opinion; dialogue is rich and fun to listen and read, and the voice acting, again, backs it up. I think most people will agree with me when I say Ian Sinclair absolutely stole the show as Berkut. Going back to the soundtrack, here are some choice samples.

However, this game has one big flaw: it's a faithful remake of Fire Emblem: Gaiden--perhaps too faithful, as the map design absolutely stinks. While it's not a big deal-breaker for me, I know this has turned off many people from playing or finishing the game. Some shake-ups have been given to the game, however: weapon skills, fatigue, third-tier promotions--but the core problem still lies. That being said, I still find the game a delight to play, so yay for me, I guess?

The next two games could easily take the lead spot for me, but as of this post, the game that will take the silver is...

2.

Spoiler

Persona 5.

Bet you weren't expecting that, hey, my friends?

Persona 5 is, without a doubt, my most anticipated game ever. I saw the first gameplay trailer for this game when it went live on that one Atlus livestream, and it had me hooked then. As a huge fan of Persona 3--my favourite game of all-time--the excitement for this game was unmatched compared to any other. When I finally played the game, thankfully, I was not disappointed, though it does have a flaw I will mention in a bit.

Let's start with the game's biggest selling point: the presentation. I don't think anyone will argue with me when I say Persona 5 is the most aesthetically striking game made. Ever. That's one hell of a claim, I know, but it's something I genuinely believe. Here's a gif of a menu select screen and a gif for an all-out attack (little choppy, but it's the best I could find in short time. Try to imagine it in 60FPS). Choice music samples, too, with the second track being one of my personal favourite music tracks ever. Shoji Meguro really kicked it out of the park with this game. Going to another selling point for the game: the story and characters. Persona, as a spin-off from Shin Megami Tensei, decided to opt for more story and character development, and this game is no exception; the characters are, for the most part, delightful to be around, and the overall story is brilliant, though the last ten hours or so might be the worst of it. I won't talk too much more about these aspects, however, since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't yet played the game.

The game's weakest point is, in my opinion, the strength of the localisation. It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely the weakest when compared to the previous two main games in the Persona series; dialogue is more stilted in places, punctuation and grammar isn't correct a number of times, and it's generally unnecessarily wordy at times. It's not horrible or anything, but when compared to previous entries, it's apparent.

Before I go into my personal game of the year, I do want to give a mention to one other game. It would probably be on this list, but I'll never finish it. Never.
Never.
Never.
Never.

Spoiler

Doki Doki Literature Club.

There's not much I cna say without spoiling this 4-5-hour game, so I'll keep it brief: heed the warnings this game mentions seriously.

DDLC is a Visual Novel with a typical anime aesthetic. You're a teenager in the second year of school, and you decide to look for clubs to join after long-time friend, Sayori, convinces you to do so out of concern for you. You end up joining the club Sayori herself is Vice-President in: the Literature Club. There are three other girls in the club, and the gameplay of the game is writing out poems to try and impress you girl of your choosing.

That is all I will say. But you should definitely hang out with Monika.

Just Monika.

Oh, and the game's free. Only thing the game asks for is your time, not money.

Another fun fact: Dan Salvato, a modder for famous mod Project M for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, made the game.

Okay, so my number one is...

1.

Spoiler

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

That's one hell of a title.

Follow-up to Trails in the Sky SC, the 3rd instead stars Kevin Graham, a member of the Septian Church, not Senior Bracer Estelle Bright, the protagonist for the previous two games. Now, being the third entry in an ongoing series, I can't talk much about this game without spoiling said games, so I'll keep this brief:

The gameplay is improved over the last two; the first game was riddled with slow pace and unbalanced characters, the second was a general improvement, but the start was still slow. The 3rd improves on this by allowing you to have a plethora of combat options at the start of the game, making it feel like a continuation of the second game. Character balances for existing characters is sorted out, and the gameplay overall feels a lot more engaging ot actually play. The presentation is mostly the same compared to the previous titles, but soundtrack still has some stand-out tracks, including my favourite vocal piece of all-time. The story is easily the darkest of any Trails game, going straight into dark subjects and borderline horror. With that said, it's also a fantastic send-off to the TitS cast; these characters, who by this point you've spent more than 200 hours with, have finally had their arcs and development finished. And this is because of the original writing by Falcom and localisers XSEED, who I both hold in very high regard. This game will make you feel things.

If I had to say one bad point about the game, it's that combat gameplay is generally slow, but that's a problem with all three games in general. However, there is now a turbo function in the game thanks to XSEED, so now this problem can be alleviated--without the music being quickened, might I add. This is the closest game to perfection I've played this year.

 

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7 minutes ago, DodgeDusk said:

2017: the year of games.

Okay, this is actually going to be pretty difficult, but I'll give it a go.

5.

  Hide contents

Fire Emblem: Warriors.

So FE Warriors was my first ever Musou game, and the only reason I bought it was because it was under the Fire Emblem name. I knew what kinds of game Musous were prior to playing Warriors, but I never picked one up before purely because high-speed action games don't really mix well with my slow reactions. But I picked up FE Warriors anyway, and wow, I was not expecting it to be this much fun; it feels so good ploughing through vast hordes of enemies with swift strikes, and the character interactions were, for the most part, well done. The Story Mode itself is kind of mediocre, but the meat of the game is in it's History Mode. That really delivers. The presentation of the game is fantastic too--here's some of the music from this game.

Of course, no game is without flaws: while there are diverse types of playstyles, the amount of characters that have identical movesets to one another is immediately apparent, especially with lance users (in the base game, anyway). The History Mode, whilst vast, can feel repetitive at times, with objectives in the scenarios repeating far too often for my liking. But this is one of those games you can just pick up and play for an hour or so, so it's not a huge detriment for the game.

4.

  Reveal hidden contents

NieR: Automata.

Like FE Warriors, NieR: Automata is another game in a genre where I don't excel in; I can't deny Platinum Games are one of the best studios in regards to high-action gameplay, but it's never been something I've excelled in. That being said, I bought the game mostly on a whim, but I had prior knowledge that Yoko Taro is a crazy man, and boy, that can't be said enough. This game will sent you on a rollercoaster full of emotions and a story that will blow your mind, and it's all because of Yoko Taro.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game isn't much of a looker. For a game in the modern generation of gaming, this game's visuals don't compare to most games. Now granted, the budget for this game wasn't anything near that of a typical AAA game, but even so, it looks like a game from the previous generation. But that's pretty much it for the presentation; the game's audio easily stands on top of the metaphorical podium, especially when it comes to it's OST. I mean, listen to these tracks. I shouldn't have to say any more. The voice acting is also brilliant, with Kyle McCarley (voices of Alm and Soren [Heroes only] for you FE nerds) stealing the show as 9S.

Something I should also mention is how excellently written the game is. No line of dialogue is without meaning--everything will eventually come around, and all dialogue is natural and brilliantly localised. Kudos to 8-4. And speaking of 8-4...

3.

  Hide contents

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Shadows of Valentia, in many ways, shouldn't be above Automata; the gameplay isn't as good, the soundtrack pales in comparison (though still utterly fantastic), outside of a few exceptions, and the story is, whilst presented beautifully, is no where near Automata's. So why is it above it? Simple: I had more fun with it.

First off, while I said the presentation is overall worse than Automata's, graphically, the game trumps it; Shadows of Valentia is beautiful, and the soundtrack and voice acting back it up. Again, 8-4 headed the localisation for this game, and this might be their best work, in my opinion; dialogue is rich and fun to listen and read, and the voice acting, again, backs it up. I think most people will agree with me when I say Ian Sinclair absolutely stole the show as Berkut. Going back to the soundtrack, here are some choice samples.

However, this game has one big flaw: it's a faithful remake of Fire Emblem: Gaiden--perhaps too faithful, as the map design absolutely stinks. While it's not a big deal-breaker for me, I know this has turned off many people from playing or finishing the game. Some shake-ups have been given to the game, however: weapon skills, fatigue, third-tier promotions--but the core problem still lies. That being said, I still find the game a delight to play, so yay for me, I guess?

The next two games could easily take the lead spot for me, but as of this post, the game that will take the silver is...

2.

  Reveal hidden contents

Persona 5.

Bet you weren't expecting that, hey, my friends?

Persona 5 is, without a doubt, my most anticipated game ever. I saw the first gameplay trailer for this game when it went live on that one Atlus livestream, and it had me hooked then. As a huge fan of Persona 3--my favourite game of all-time--the excitement for this game was unmatched compared to any other. When I finally played the game, thankfully, I was not disappointed, though it does have a flaw I will mention in a bit.

Let's start with the game's biggest selling point: the presentation. I don't think anyone will argue with me when I say Persona 5 is the most aesthetically striking game made. Ever. That's one hell of a claim, I know, but it's something I genuinely believe. Here's a gif of a menu select screen and a gif for an all-out attack (little choppy, but it's the best I could find in short time. Try to imagine it in 60FPS). Choice music samples, too, with the second track being one of my personal favourite music tracks ever. Shoji Meguro really kicked it out of the park with this game. Going to another selling point for the game: the story and characters. Persona, as a spin-off from Shin Megami Tensei, decided to opt for more story and character development, and this game is no exception; the characters are, for the most part, delightful to be around, and the overall story is brilliant, though the last ten hours or so might be the worst of it. I won't talk too much more about these aspects, however, since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't yet played the game.

The game's weakest point is, in my opinion, the strength of the localisation. It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely the weakest when compared to the previous two main games in the Persona series; dialogue is more stilted in places, punctuation and grammar isn't correct a number of times, and it's generally unnecessarily wordy at times. It's not horrible or anything, but when compared to previous entries, it's apparent.

Before I go into my personal game of the year, I do want to give a mention to one other game. It would probably be on this list, but I'll never finish it. Never.
Never.
Never.
Never.

  Reveal hidden contents

Doki Doki Literature Club.

There's not much I cna say without spoiling this 4-5-hour game, so I'll keep it brief: heed the warnings this game mentions seriously.

DDLC is a Visual Novel with a typical anime aesthetic. You're a teenager in the second year of school, and you decide to look for clubs to join after long-time friend, Sayori, convinces you to do so out of concern for you. You end up joining the club Sayori herself is Vice-President in: the Literature Club. There are three other girls in the club, and the gameplay of the game is writing out poems to try and impress you girl of your choosing.

That is all I will say. But you should definitely hang out with Monika.

Just Monika.

Oh, and the game's free. Only thing the game asks for is your time, not money.

Another fun fact: Dan Salvato, a modder for famous mod Project M for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, made the game.

Okay, so my number one is...

1.

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

That's one hell of a title.

Follow-up to Trails in the Sky SC, the 3rd instead stars Kevin Graham, a member of the Septian Church, not Senior Bracer Estelle Bright, the protagonist for the previous two games. Now, being the third entry in an ongoing series, I can't talk much about this game without spoiling said games, so I'll keep this brief:

The gameplay is improved over the last two; the first game was riddled with slow pace and unbalanced characters, the second was a general improvement, but the start was still slow. The 3rd improves on this by allowing you to have a plethora of combat options at the start of the game, making it feel like a continuation of the second game. Character balances for existing characters is sorted out, and the gameplay overall feels a lot more engaging ot actually play. The presentation is mostly the same compared to the previous titles, but soundtrack still has some stand-out tracks, including my favourite vocal piece of all-time. The story is easily the darkest of any Trails game, going straight into dark subjects and borderline horror. With that said, it's also a fantastic send-off to the TitS cast; these characters, who by this point you've spent more than 200 hours with, have finally had their arcs and development finished. And this is because of the original writing by Falcom and localisers XSEED, who I both hold in very high regard. This game will make you feel things.

If I had to say one bad point about the game, it's that combat gameplay is generally slow, but that's a problem with all three games in general. However, there is now a turbo function in the game thanks to XSEED, so now this problem can be alleviated--without the music being quickened, might I add. This is the closest game to perfection I've played this year.

 

Heh,  thought your 1 and 3 would be reversed of where they were.

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1 hour ago, Thane said:

What're the names of the Trails in the Sky installments, and are the games any good? I was thinking of checking them out. 

Trails in the Sky FC, Trails in the Sky SC (First and Second Chapter, respectively), and Trails in the Sky the 3rd. This is known as the Sky trilogy. You then have Zero no Kiseki and Ao no Kiseki, which translate to Trails to Zero and Trails to Azure. These are known as the Crossbell duology, and have no official English releases. After these, you have Trails of Cold Steel I and II, with III being Japanese-exclusive right now. IV has been announced. All of these games have "The Legend of Heroes" before the title, since they're technically under The Legend of Heroes franchise (Sky FC is the sixth LoH game).

All the Trails games take place on a single continent, with each mini-series, for lack of a different term, taking place in a different location on the continent.

In my opinion, all the Trails games are fantastic, but bias might be clouding my judgement. I'd expand, but I don't think the thread is the best place for me to do so. I can PM you my reasons, if you want me to.

Edited by DodgeDusk
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1 minute ago, DodgeDusk said:

In my opinion, all the Trails games are fantastic, but bias might be clouding my judgement. I'd expand, but I don't think the thread is the best place for me to do so. I can PM you my reasons, if you want me to.

Please do. I'd love to know more about the series and why it's good, without any spoilers, of course. I had a look on Steam and just saw a bunch of different names so I got a bit confused.

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1 hour ago, DodgeDusk said:

2017: the year of games.

Okay, this is actually going to be pretty difficult, but I'll give it a go.

5.

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Fire Emblem: Warriors.

So FE Warriors was my first ever Musou game, and the only reason I bought it was because it was under the Fire Emblem name. I knew what kinds of game Musous were prior to playing Warriors, but I never picked one up before purely because high-speed action games don't really mix well with my slow reactions. But I picked up FE Warriors anyway, and wow, I was not expecting it to be this much fun; it feels so good ploughing through vast hordes of enemies with swift strikes, and the character interactions were, for the most part, well done. The Story Mode itself is kind of mediocre, but the meat of the game is in it's History Mode. That really delivers. The presentation of the game is fantastic too--here's some of the music from this game.

Of course, no game is without flaws: while there are diverse types of playstyles, the amount of characters that have identical movesets to one another is immediately apparent, especially with lance users (in the base game, anyway). The History Mode, whilst vast, can feel repetitive at times, with objectives in the scenarios repeating far too often for my liking. But this is one of those games you can just pick up and play for an hour or so, so it's not a huge detriment for the game.

4.

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NieR: Automata.

Like FE Warriors, NieR: Automata is another game in a genre where I don't excel in; I can't deny Platinum Games are one of the best studios in regards to high-action gameplay, but it's never been something I've excelled in. That being said, I bought the game mostly on a whim, but I had prior knowledge that Yoko Taro is a crazy man, and boy, that can't be said enough. This game will sent you on a rollercoaster full of emotions and a story that will blow your mind, and it's all because of Yoko Taro.

Let's get the bad out of the way first: this game isn't much of a looker. For a game in the modern generation of gaming, this game's visuals don't compare to most games. Now granted, the budget for this game wasn't anything near that of a typical AAA game, but even so, it looks like a game from the previous generation. But that's pretty much it for the presentation; the game's audio easily stands on top of the metaphorical podium, especially when it comes to it's OST. I mean, listen to these tracks. I shouldn't have to say any more. The voice acting is also brilliant, with Kyle McCarley (voices of Alm and Soren [Heroes only] for you FE nerds) stealing the show as 9S.

Something I should also mention is how excellently written the game is. No line of dialogue is without meaning--everything will eventually come around, and all dialogue is natural and brilliantly localised. Kudos to 8-4. And speaking of 8-4...

3.

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Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Shadows of Valentia, in many ways, shouldn't be above Automata; the gameplay isn't as good, the soundtrack pales in comparison (though still utterly fantastic), outside of a few exceptions, and the story is, whilst presented beautifully, is no where near Automata's. So why is it above it? Simple: I had more fun with it.

First off, while I said the presentation is overall worse than Automata's, graphically, the game trumps it; Shadows of Valentia is beautiful, and the soundtrack and voice acting back it up. Again, 8-4 headed the localisation for this game, and this might be their best work, in my opinion; dialogue is rich and fun to listen and read, and the voice acting, again, backs it up. I think most people will agree with me when I say Ian Sinclair absolutely stole the show as Berkut. Going back to the soundtrack, here are some choice samples.

However, this game has one big flaw: it's a faithful remake of Fire Emblem: Gaiden--perhaps too faithful, as the map design absolutely stinks. While it's not a big deal-breaker for me, I know this has turned off many people from playing or finishing the game. Some shake-ups have been given to the game, however: weapon skills, fatigue, third-tier promotions--but the core problem still lies. That being said, I still find the game a delight to play, so yay for me, I guess?

The next two games could easily take the lead spot for me, but as of this post, the game that will take the silver is...

2.

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Persona 5.

Bet you weren't expecting that, hey, my friends?

Persona 5 is, without a doubt, my most anticipated game ever. I saw the first gameplay trailer for this game when it went live on that one Atlus livestream, and it had me hooked then. As a huge fan of Persona 3--my favourite game of all-time--the excitement for this game was unmatched compared to any other. When I finally played the game, thankfully, I was not disappointed, though it does have a flaw I will mention in a bit.

Let's start with the game's biggest selling point: the presentation. I don't think anyone will argue with me when I say Persona 5 is the most aesthetically striking game made. Ever. That's one hell of a claim, I know, but it's something I genuinely believe. Here's a gif of a menu select screen and a gif for an all-out attack (little choppy, but it's the best I could find in short time. Try to imagine it in 60FPS). Choice music samples, too, with the second track being one of my personal favourite music tracks ever. Shoji Meguro really kicked it out of the park with this game. Going to another selling point for the game: the story and characters. Persona, as a spin-off from Shin Megami Tensei, decided to opt for more story and character development, and this game is no exception; the characters are, for the most part, delightful to be around, and the overall story is brilliant, though the last ten hours or so might be the worst of it. I won't talk too much more about these aspects, however, since I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't yet played the game.

The game's weakest point is, in my opinion, the strength of the localisation. It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely the weakest when compared to the previous two main games in the Persona series; dialogue is more stilted in places, punctuation and grammar isn't correct a number of times, and it's generally unnecessarily wordy at times. It's not horrible or anything, but when compared to previous entries, it's apparent.

Before I go into my personal game of the year, I do want to give a mention to one other game. It would probably be on this list, but I'll never finish it. Never.
Never.
Never.
Never.

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Doki Doki Literature Club.

There's not much I cna say without spoiling this 4-5-hour game, so I'll keep it brief: heed the warnings this game mentions seriously.

DDLC is a Visual Novel with a typical anime aesthetic. You're a teenager in the second year of school, and you decide to look for clubs to join after long-time friend, Sayori, convinces you to do so out of concern for you. You end up joining the club Sayori herself is Vice-President in: the Literature Club. There are three other girls in the club, and the gameplay of the game is writing out poems to try and impress you girl of your choosing.

That is all I will say. But you should definitely hang out with Monika.

Just Monika.

Oh, and the game's free. Only thing the game asks for is your time, not money.

Another fun fact: Dan Salvato, a modder for famous mod Project M for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, made the game.

Okay, so my number one is...

1.

  Hide contents

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd.

That's one hell of a title.

Follow-up to Trails in the Sky SC, the 3rd instead stars Kevin Graham, a member of the Septian Church, not Senior Bracer Estelle Bright, the protagonist for the previous two games. Now, being the third entry in an ongoing series, I can't talk much about this game without spoiling said games, so I'll keep this brief:

The gameplay is improved over the last two; the first game was riddled with slow pace and unbalanced characters, the second was a general improvement, but the start was still slow. The 3rd improves on this by allowing you to have a plethora of combat options at the start of the game, making it feel like a continuation of the second game. Character balances for existing characters is sorted out, and the gameplay overall feels a lot more engaging ot actually play. The presentation is mostly the same compared to the previous titles, but soundtrack still has some stand-out tracks, including my favourite vocal piece of all-time. The story is easily the darkest of any Trails game, going straight into dark subjects and borderline horror. With that said, it's also a fantastic send-off to the TitS cast; these characters, who by this point you've spent more than 200 hours with, have finally had their arcs and development finished. And this is because of the original writing by Falcom and localisers XSEED, who I both hold in very high regard. This game will make you feel things.

If I had to say one bad point about the game, it's that combat gameplay is generally slow, but that's a problem with all three games in general. However, there is now a turbo function in the game thanks to XSEED, so now this problem can be alleviated--without the music being quickened, might I add. This is the closest game to perfection I've played this year.

 

I completely forgot Trails in the Sky the 3rd ! Not sure how this happened. I'm just before the final dungeon, and needs to continue it eventually.

I have lot of unfinished game to complete actually.

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