2017 Games Review

2017 Games Review

2 Star Games

Legend of Legacy. A far too difficult RPG

Grow Up. A confusing game which adds too much stuff to the original formula

No Mans Sky. I did like the base game but once you run out of resources on a planet it's hard to get going again.

Rhythm Paradise Wii. Not a patch on any of the portable games. 

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. A dull Persona-lite game with too much focus on Japanese icon culture. And too much focus on Tsubasa

3 Star Games

Cities Skylines. Couldn't get into this despite my love of city building simulators

Ether One. Confusing walking simulator

This War Of Mine. Very difficult and very sad war survival game.

Earthlock. Decent RPG but a massive difficulty spike early on had me only play for a short time

Final Fantasy Explorers. Decent if repetitive Monster Hunter lite game.

Shantae Half Genie Hero. I had to quit this early on and didn't have time to get back to it but it seems decent.

Paper Mario Colour Splash. Why is it so hard to make a decent Paper Mario game?

Kerbal Space Programme. This game is much more based on literal rocket science then I thought,

Rhythm Paradise. Fun game but dated for me after playing Megamix

Siesta Fiesta. A good Alleyway but too difficult and demanding.

Playerunknown Battlegrounds. I enjoy watching but not playing.

4 Star Games

Night In The Woods. Really good life simulator with compelling characters ruined by some weird decisions at the end of the game.

Dust An Elysian Dust. fun side scrolling battle game.

Guacemelee. Metroidvania battler which got a bit too difficult for me at the very end.

Armello. Slightly confusing but fun board game

Maniac Mansion/Day Of The Tentacle. Old school point and click adventure. Guide only

Final Fantasy XV. An interesting buddy road trip game turns to nonsense

Dragon Quest VII. A restore the world mechanic which is too difficult when you're never told what to do next.

Stella Glow. Tactical RPG that I enjoyed but did not finish.

World of Final Fantasy.  A game that mixes cute Pokemon catching with Final Fantasy nostalgia. And then gets ridiculous at the end.

Adventure of Mana. Modern graphical remake of the origianl GBA game so tough but not bad.

Oceanhorn. A game meant for tablets and so doesn't work as well as consoles.

MySims Racing. A surprisingkly good racing game. Worth every penny of the 70c I paid for it.

The Sims 4. On console it can get tedious after a while 

5 Star Games

Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime. A brilliant spaceship rescue game that works great in single player and even better as a co-op game.

Super Exploding Zoo. A strangle combination of puzzling and exploding animals

Xeodrifter. A retro style Metroidvania which is the perfect lenght.

I am Setsuna. Essentially the same plot as Final Fantasy X but the snow settling and subtle soundtrack make it something unique

Ratchet and Clank. Less of a remake and more of a new Ratchet and Clank which is just as good as any of the others.

Grow Home. A simple game where you have to grow a giant beanstalk on a planet to reach your ship. Once you get used to the controls it's compelling.

Tembo The Badass Elephant. A traditional platformer with a modern feel

Super Mario Maker 3DS. I didn't touch the redundant game maker part of this but 100+ new 2D Mario levels. Yes please.

Rise Of The Tomb Raider. Stupid story and mediocre shooting but major enjoyment from exploration and actual tomb raiding.

Batman The Telltale Series. Exactly what you would expect from Telltale, this game had more of a focus on Bruce Wayne.

Skylanders Imaginators. Possible swansong for the Skylanders is luckily one of their stronger entries. I made myself as a Skylander.

Kirby Robobot. Another enjoyable and simple Kirby platformer with an interesting robot to play as too.

Lumo. Based on old school adventure game, plenty of brilliant puzzles.

Headlander. Unusual and slightly morbid body swapping Metroidvania game.

Shantae Risky Revenge. I did have time to play this Shantae game and found it very enjoyable

Pony Island. A cute freerunning game where you play as an adorable pony. Definitely not created by the devil to possess the players soul

Top 10 Games of 2017

Forza Horizon 3. For a game I didn't think I'd get to play, I spent a lot of hours completing all the championships.

The Last Guardian. It's been a long wait and a lot of anticipation for The Last Guardian. Thankfully I felt it lived up to it. There are occasional annoyances with Trico when he doesn't seem to want to do what you want him to. However it's nothing compared to the amazing feeling when it goes right. When he rescues you from a mid air fall, or slams into enemies. And probably one of the happiest endings for a Team Ico game.

Yooka Laylee. A proper sequel to Banjo Kazooie. Different characters but the gameplay is exactly the same as Banjo Kazooie. This does include some of the bad features such as no minimap or markers. It's just so much fun to play and a pity games like this aren't made too often anymore. I kickstarted this when it was first announced and it was worth it

Letter Quest. I don't know what it is about this game. Adding RPG elements to what is basically Boggle just makes it so compelling. I couldn't stop playing it. It's just so well designed.

Pokémon Ultra Moon. It didn't add a whole from over Moon and most of the new stuff was spoiled well in advance  but there was still plenty to keep me busy and entertained. Lots of new Shiny Pokemon too including a natural Wishiwashi

Zero Time Dilemma. Another round of escape the room style puzzles, but more importantly this is the game that finishes the story of the trilogy of games. And it does answer a lot of the questions and does make sense in it's own sense of logic.

Sonic Mania. This is the Sonic game I have been waiting for for so long. New levels and remixes of older levels using the traditional oldschool Sonic from the original games. It feels right when you play it. And no stupid characters or cutscenes or voices. And no long sections of speed and no control. Just proper solid Sonic The Hedgehog gameplay.

Ace Attorney Investigations 2. That this game didn't officially come out over here is a travesty. Gameplay wise it's similar to the first game, explore a crime scene then use logic and deduction to expose the real criminal. The story and characters are excellent. There is plenty of backstory for Edgeworth, some cases act as a prequel to the original Ace Attorney and also fills in some details before Spirit of Justice. 

Dragon Quest Builders. Minecraft style gameplay combined with a mission to save the world. Amazing. So enjoyable I played it twice in a row.

Persona 5. Persona 5 takes what was the weakest element of Persona 4, the dungeons, and fixes it. Best game of 2017 for me.