Arkane Studios feels more like a spiritual successor to System Shock than its actual self. And I wanted to love this game, but it kind of left me feeling indifferent about halfway through. I really dig its aesthetic, its shape-shifting enemies, its alternate history sci-fi stuff, and the non-linear progression. It has almost all the RPG and stealthy elements that I dig, and yet I just wasn't compelled enough to finish it. I don’t know, it kind of bored me. But now that it's not full price, it’s good enough to be worth a look if you’re into the various Shock and Dishonored games, and maybe you’ll have a better time than I did.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is technically a bit of a mess. On PC it’s inconsistent, on Xbox it’s an abomination, and even though it’s finally left early access title it still currently just kind of sucks in terms of optimization. And yet, it’s the most heart-poundingly captivating game I’ve played since, well, since DayZ back when it was still an ArmA2 mod. It says a lot about the core gameplay that despite its numerous shortcomings, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds currently has over 30 million players and was the single most-played game on Steam. So I have no doubt we’ll be seeing an awful lot more from this and other battle royale-type games in 2018.

Horizon Zero Dawn is a game I didn’t love. I liked it, don’t get me wrong, just not as much as I thought I would. Still, I feel compelled to include Horizon on my list because it deserves it. It truly stood out as one of the most instantly captivating worlds in games this year. The lush post-apocalyptic Earth overrun with robot dinosaurs is my aesthetic, and the backstory of how things got that way is truly compelling to explore. But I felt a bit frustrated by the combat, bored with the repetitive item collecting and crafting, and uninterested in most everything outside of the main storyline. I seriously wish Guerilla the best with the next Horizon game, because the foundation here is solid.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins is an Assassin’s Creed game on my list this year, which is a bit of a surprise. I’m just a sucker for an Egyptian setting in games, and Origins is the most vividly detailed rendition of that so far. Now, the story itself? Ah, it's okay. The gameplay? I mean, eghh... It’s an improvement from past games in some ways, and just par for the course in others. There's a whole lot of busywork and I don't care about the side stuff at all. I am also not a fan of the copious microtransactions, but thankfully none were necessary to enjoy what it *did* offer. So I was just happy to explore such a gigantic and well-made map of ancient Egypt, and I cannot wait to play the educational/exploration mode whenever Ubisoft finally releases it.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus is a game that made some questionable moves. Bold, but questionable. I never felt like going full stealth was really much of an option in this one, barring a few levels where it was required. And the whole mid-story twist in gameplay, while awesomely campy, meant the first half of the game was a slog to play. Still, as far as middle chapters of an FPS trilogy go, Wolfenstein II is worth experiencing, if only to listen to BJ's growling poetic monologues while blasting endless Nazis.

Sonic Mania is stupidly good. Go figure that it would end up being ROM hackers and freelance programmers to make a truly great Sonic game again. I cannot believe how much fun I had with Sonic Mania. I ecstatically played through it one sitting, grinning from ear to ear the whole time, wishing that it wouldn’t end. Sadly it did, and I cannot wait for more. And that is it for this particular list for this particular year! Thank you very much for watching this and throughout 2017. Very much looking forward to getting back to my normal routine in 2018 so, stay tuned! New videos every Monday and Friday as always here on LGR. Thank you very much for watching!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enGreetings, and welcome to the end of anotheryear on LGR!2017 was a bit of an odd year in more waysthan one, and that certainly included gaming,at least for me personally.I don’t know if it’s a result of just gettingolder, or games evolving beyond my tastes orwhat, but I found myself not wanting to makea list of the so-called “best games”as I have in previous years.Instead, I’d rather just talk about thegames released in 2017 that I played whichstood out for one reason or another.That doesn’t necessarily mean they’reall 100% great games, but simply thatI’m glad I played them and I feel like sharing my experiences with you.That being said let’s get to it in no particular order whatsoever, starting with:Yakuza 0!As a long-time fan of the series, I’m soglad Sega finally got this one localized.Not only is 1980s Japan a setting I was dyingto explore, but the Yakuza games have toolong remained an underground success.Yet with the release of Zero it seems to have finally and deservedly caught more of the public eye,convincing many to dive into the series for the first time.And it makes sense as a starting point being a prequel to the original PS2 game from 2005.In fact, that got an HD remake this year aswell, in the form of Yakuza Kiwami.And while I enjoyed both, Zero stands outto me as the more memorable experience.Divinity: Original Sin 2Man, what a lovely game.If you’re looking for an expertly-craftedCRPG experience with a ridiculously denseworld of characters, side quests, and strategicapproaches,DOS2 is where it’s at.Whether on your own commanding a party of four, or playing with others over drop-in,drop-out multiplayer, Larian Studios’s particularblend of role-playingherbs and spices goes down smooth.I kinda wish it didn’t have you spendingso long in the starting area, but whatever.It’s packed with enough content that I’vehappily played through that three times now.It's good stuff!The Legend of Zelda Breath of the WildAll right, lemme get this out of the way:Breath of the Wild is the first Zelda gameI’ve played through since the originalson the NES. Yeah.So bearing that in mind, it may not be surprisingthat I foundthis to be the best Zelda title to date.But you know, even after talking to my friends about the other games that I missed over the years,it’s hard for me to imagine my opinion would change on this one.Cuz as far as sandbox-y open worlds go, this is the most fun I hadwith that kind of gameplay all year.And minus a few qualms I have with weaponbreakage and camera controls, Breath of theWild is easy to completely recommend.Super Mario OdysseySpeaking of games that I cannot recommend enough!Yeah, I enjoyed the past few mainline Mario gameson the Wii U well enough, but Odyssey mademe go “holy crap, this is special.”Of all the games on my list this year, thisis probably the one where I have the fewestcomplaints or critiques or any kind of nitpicks.In fact, at the moment I can’t think ofanything I’d change except...wait, nope, nothing.It’s pretty darned ideal for what I wantin a sprawling collect-a-thon3D platformer like this.Incredible visuals, music, level design, controls,pacing, just the whole nine yards.Fantastic.CupheadHeh, see, I personally can’t stand Cuphead.Yet I sure do respect it!Studio MDHR has put together a side-scrollingaction platformer bullet hell boss battlingobsessive perfectionist simulator that isa wonder to behold.The hand-drawn craftsmanship that went intoevery aspect of Cuphead is off the charts,the controls are ridiculously tight and responsive,and the soundtrack is thing of beauty.But the gameplay?Ehh.Yes, it’s insanely satisfying when you finallybeat a level, but it drives me crazy spending30 minutes to an hour replaying levels countlesstimes just to beat one, much less master it.So it's not exactly for me in the long but I'm glad I got a chance to experience it for what it is.Persona 5Yeah I’m one of those that didn’t playa Persona game until this year because frankly,I didn’t think this kind ofJRPG would appeal to me.But I was wrong.From the instant I booted to the main menu andwas blasted with that art style and that incrediblesoundtrack, I was sold.Atlus has crafted the kind of experience Idid not know that I wanted.Even with like, the first entire half of the100+ hour game effectively being a tutorial,I loved the story, the characters, the weirdside activities, even the grinding to a degree.Since playing P5, I’ve gone back and startedplaying the previous games in the series,and dang it I guess I’m a fan now! And I never saw it coming.This Is The PoliceI missed this one when it released for PCin 2016, but I’m putting it on this listsinceit released on all the major consoles in 2017.This Is The Police is a strategic resourcemanagement sim with an adventure game-likenarrative, set in the crime-riddled fictional 1980s city of Freeburg.You play a police chief, enjoyably voicedby Duke Nukem himself Jon St. John, who’s180 days from retirement and wants to earna nice nest egg however he can.And man, the ethical quandaries you’ll navigateare intense.Its handling of sensitive topics is hit andmiss and the gameplay is darned repetitive,but it’s based on police procedures so thatkind of makes sense to me.Thimbleweed ParkFull disclosure, this is a crowdfunded gamethat I backed financially so I had more thanone reason for hoping it would turn out well.Thankfully, even if I hadn’t paid for itback in 2014, I can easily say this latest pointand click adventure game by Ron Gilbert andTerrible Toybox is wonderful.Think Maniac Mansion meets a little bit ofTwin Peaks and you get the idea.It’s a murder mystery adventure where youswitch back and forth between various charactersat multiple points in time, and it allrevolvesaround solving the mysteries of Thimbleweed Park.If you like classic LucasArts adventures and you were kinda disappointed in stuff like Broken Age,is the game for you.And hey a little tip: if you find a phone and dial 3537,you’ll get a recorded message from me, aw yeah.PreyDon’t let the name fool you, this Prey hasalmost nothing to with the 2006 game by HumanHead Studios.Prey 2017 by Arkane Studios feels more likea spiritual successor to System Shock.And I wanted to love this game, but it kindof left me feelingindifferent about halfway through.I really dig its aesthetic, its shape-shifting enemies,its alternate history sci-fi stuff,and the non-linear progression.It has almost all the RPG and stealthy elements thatI dig,and yet I just wasn’t compelled enough to finish it.I don’t know, it kind of bored me.But now that it's not full price, it’s good enough to be worth a lookif you’re into the various Shock and Dishonored games, and maybe you’ll have a better timethan I did.PlayerUnknown’s BattlegroundsSo here’s the thing with PUBG: it’s technicallya bit of a mess.On PC it’s inconsistent, on Xbox it’san abomination, and even though it’s finallyleft early access title it still currently just kind of sucks in terms of optimization.And yet, it’s the most heart-poundinglycaptivating game I’ve played since, well,since DayZ back when it was still an ArmA2 mod.It says a lot about the core gameplay thatdespite its numerous shortcomings, PlayerUnknown’sBattlegrounds currently has over 30 millionplayersand was the single most-played game on Steam.So I have no doubt we’ll be seeing an awful lotmore from thisand other battle royale-type games in 2018.Horizon Zero DawnSo here’s a game I didn’t love.I liked it, don’t get me wrong, just notas much as I thought I would.Still, I feel compelled to include Horizonon my list because it deserves it.It truly stood out as one of the most instantly captivating worlds in games this year.The lush post-apocalyptic Earth overrun withrobot dinosaurs is my aesthetic,and the backstory of how things got that way istruly compelling to explore.But I felt a bit frustrated by the combat, boredwith the repetitive item collecting and crafting,and uninterested in most everything outsideof the main storyline.I seriously wish Guerilla the best with thenext Horizon game, becausethe foundation here is solid.Assassin’s Creed: OriginsYep, didn’t see myself putting an Assassin’sCreed game on my list this year, but herewe are.I’m just a sucker for an Egyptian settings ingames, and Origins is the mostvividly detailed rendition of that so far.Now, the story itself?Aergh, it’s okay.The gameplay? I mean, eghhIt’s an improvement from past games in someways, and just par for the course in others.There's a whole lot of busywork and I don't care about the side stuff at all.I am also not a fan of the copious microtransactions,but thankfully none were necessary to enjoy what it *did* offer.So I was just happy to explore such a giganticand well-made map of ancient Egypt, and Icannot wait to play the educational/explorationmode whenever Ubisoft finally releases it.Wolfenstein II: The New ColossusThe more I think about it, the more I’mnot sure how much I actually liked this one.The New Order and The Old Blood were unquestionablyfantastic in my mind, but The New Colossusmade some questionable moves.Bold, but questionable.I never felt like going full stealth was reallymuch of an option in this one,barring a few levels where it was required.And the whole mid-story twist in gameplay,while awesomely campy,meant the first half of the game was a slog to play.Still, as far as middle chapters of an FPStrilogy go, Wolfenstein II is worth experiencing,if only to listen to BJ’s growling poeticmonologues while blasting endless Nazis.And finally...Sonic ManiaMan, if you told me at any point in the pasttwenty years that a new Sonic the Hedgehoggame would become one of myfavorite platformers again?Yeah I don’t know what I would say or whereI was going with that but holy crap,Sonic Mania is stupidly good.Go figure that it would end up being ROM hackersand freelance programmersto make a truly great Sonic game again.I cannot believe how much fun I had with SonicMania.I ecstatically played through it one sitting,grinning from ear to ear the whole time,wishing that it wouldn’t end.Sadly it did, and I cannot wait for more.And that is it for this particular list forthis particular year!Thank you very much for watching this andthroughout 2017.Very much looking forward to getting backto my normal routine in 2018 so, stay tuned!New videos every Monday and Friday as alwayshere on LGR.Thank you very much for watching!\n"