As we inch ever closer to the conclusion of 2017, it’s a good time to pause and look back at what has been an honestly incredible year in video gaming. From the wildly successful launch of the Nintendo Switch, to consistent upgrades in new technology across consoles and PC, to continued innovations in the indie game realm, 2017 has honestly been a landmark year for the medium.
Here at Scoop, we’ve decided to highlight several video games that have arrived over the last 12 months that proved to be standouts in a crowded 2017 gaming lineup. Read through until the end to see what we picked for our 2017 Game of the Year.
Persona 5
PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
The latest entry in the long-running Persona series by Atlus, Persona 5 managed to break through into the mainstream consciousness – a significant feat, given the relatively niche status of the previous entries. Easily one of the most perfectly-crafted Japanese roleplaying games ever published, Persona 5 oozed style in every sense; the art direction was magnificently blended with the acid jazz-infused soundtrack. With an easy-to-learn base gameplay on top of a far more difficult-to-master demon fusion system, Persona 5 was bound to appeal to everyone from casual RPG fans to the most hardcore Shin Megami Tensei loyalists.
You can check out our full review from earlier this year elsewhere on Scoop.
Golf Story
Nintendo Switch
One of the indie darlings of 2017, Golf Story somehow blended a wildly addictive core golf-focused gameplay with a cute storyline and characters that make for a game experience greater than the sum of its parts. The three-click golfing mechanic allows for a naturally easy learning curve, and the narrative’s quirky humor will keep players stretching the battery life on their Switch. It’s essentially a role-playing game with combat replaced by teeing off on another green, which sounds odd but really worked.
Our review from earlier this year can be found on Scoop.
Pokémon Ultra Sun/Moon
Nintendo 3DS
Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon will be the last core Pokémon series games to release on the 3DS family of handhelds, and it’s going out with a bang before moving on to the Switch. Though ultimately just updated versions of 2016’s Sun and Moon, the Ultra games managed to perfect what those started and threw in just enough twists and turns to make sure things felt fresh enough to warrant another $40 purchase. And for anyone who skipped Sun and Moon for any reason, Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon are the quintessential Pokémon games for the platform.
You can find our full review elsewhere on Scoop.
Horizon Zero Dawn
PlayStation 4
Guerilla Games, until this year, was best-known for the Killzone series. Their beautiful take on a post-apocalyptic Earth with Horizon Zero Dawn has seemingly changed that for good. The PS4 exclusive featured an honestly astounding open world environment, a strong central storyline, and addictive combat mechanics. It also featured graphics that may make you doubt that what you’re looking at has been digitally rendered.
Horizon Zero Dawn felt like a risk – as many new intellectual properties in a world full of sequels tend to feel – but it clearly paid off for Guerilla and for Sony, who clearly have one of the strongest lineups of console exclusives out there.
Cuphead
Microsoft Windows, Xbox One
Mixing relentlessly difficult run-and-gun gameplay with a graphical style ripped right out of a 1930s Fleischer cartoon, Cuphead debuted in 2017 after nearly three years’ worth of hype. It turned out that the game was worth the wait. Though it’d be a standout for its visual aesthetic alone, Cuphead managed to win gamers over with its notorious difficulty and its focus on memorable boss battles. The incredible soundtrack only lends to the style of the game, and Cuphead is already being considered as one of the greatest achievements ever in the 2D shooter genre.
Super Mario Odyssey
Nintendo Switch
Not since the arrival of Super Mario 64 more than 20 years ago has a game in this long-running franchise seen such instant, universal acclaim.
Super Mario Odyssey highlighted the mastery that Nintendo has proved over the 3D platforming genre while adding just enough of a twist to the mix with the cap-throwing mechanic. The gameplay is extremely easy to learn – though trick jumps are possible for those with quick reflexes – and the overall atmosphere of the game is just incredible.
From the rooftops of New Donk City, to the giant soup pot of the Luncheon Kingdom, to the lush forests of Steam Gardens, Odyssey is chock full of new places to explore and reexplore throughout the game. It manages to not simply be a new game, but the ultimate love letter to this legendary franchise.
Check out our full review of Mario Odyssey elsewhere on Scoop.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
It has seemed for quite some time now that first-person shooters need to rely on a strong multiplayer experience in order to be successful. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus managed to return the genre to form on the single-player stage, with a magnificent campaign that placed protagonist B.J. Blazkowicz at odds with the Nazis in an alternate version of the U.S. in which Nazi Germany won World War II. Who doesn’t like blowing up Nazis, anyway? And though the game wasn’t actually developed with the current political climate in mind, the fact that the marketing campaign leaned so heavily into it absolutely made Wolfenstein II a talking point in ways no one could have really anticipated. Cool guns, good gameplay and a solid storyline combined to prove that you don’t need to be online and connected to thousands of other people in order to have a great first-person shooter experience.
Game of the Year:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo Switch, WiiU
What can we honestly say about Breath of the Wild that hasn’t already been said? It’s not just the best game to come out this year – it might be the greatest video game experience of all time, period. Link’s quest to save Princess Zelda may seem familiar, but this incarnation of Hyrule is anything but. Ravaged by the apocalypse that was brought on by Calamity Ganon, much of the world is simply ruins; those who survived the oncoming of the Calamity were left to start new, smaller settlements or to retreat into towns far from the epicenter. What’s left is a sprawling, truly open world – beautiful though it may be, many dangers lurk in unexpected places.
The Zelda games have hardly ever had what people would call “duds” of entries, but Breath of the Wild makes everything that came before it almost pale in comparison. The truly open experience allows for players to explore every inch of the map before making their way into Hyrule Castle to fight Ganon – or, if they want to make a naked mad dash straight for the evil creature, they can do that too. You can play Breath of the Wild exactly how you want to play; explore for hours, search for every Korok seed, uncover every shrine, go Guardian hunting, clear every side quest, find and upgrade every piece of equipment, or simply follow the main quest. It’s entirely up to you.
The arrival of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was an honest-to-goodness watershed moment in gaming history. It will likely be the game by which all other open-world experiences will be compared to for years to come. The game is simply a masterpiece of art, gameplay, story, and sound direction coming together for a truthfully beautiful experience from start to finish. It’s a true accomplishment – not just simply for the Zelda series, but for Nintendo at large – and is therefore our choice for Game of the Year.
See our review from earlier this year elsewhere on Scoop.
That wraps it up for this look back at what has honestly been a spectacular year for video games. Looking ahead into 2018, it looks like there’s plenty of great new gaming experiences on the horizon as well. (And if you love video games, be sure to order your copy of The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Video Games, available now – it makes a great holiday stocking stuffer!)
-Carrie Wood
