I will start this list by saying I have not played many peoples top games of the year, I weren’t able to play Mario, Zelda as I don’t have a Switch and I never got around to playing NieR: Automata.
There are also some games that deserve a mention that didn’t make it onto this list, games such as Resident Evil 7 which massively rebooted the franchise and had me feeling how I did when I first explored the mansion in the original Resident Evil. Another game that narrowly missed out on the list is Everything, a game which allows you to simulate… everything. It is a weird existential screensaver that even plays itself if you put the controller down. You want to be a microbe? So be it. You want to be a planet? Well go on then, Everything has you covered.
Well here we go, in no particular order, here is the list of my favourite games which I think are worth checking out.
Assassins Creed Origins
Assassins Creed Origins was a game I originally played
reluctantly. I have played every major title in the series and fell off each
and every one at some point since Assassins Creed 3 (Granted some quicker than
others). So after Ubisoft took a year off and hearing positives from the media
I decided I should probably jump in and test the waters myself. For the record, I enjoy Assassins Creed, I
think the balance of ‘not quite history’, magic & myth is fascinating.
However the previous games are filled with so much busy work that it takes away
from the experience so it is always just a matter of time before I call it a
day. Origins was different.
Part of the process of purchasing the game was that I
decided I was going to complete it 100%, it was a deal I was making to myself
to justify buying it when it was on sale. I was going to make it my game to
play in my ‘killing time’ time since I abstained from PES and FIFA this year.
The thing that grabbed my attention first was the combat
overhaul. No longer did I find myself waiting to counter enemies and therefore
insta-kill them. I had choice, a choice of light and heavy attacks and I could
block… with a shield… in Assassins Creed. The combat feels deliberate, similar
to that of a Dark Souls, each attack has to be timed to land because there is
no backing out once you’ve committed. I found myself locking onto enemies,
circling them with my shield up either waiting for the right time to strike or
attempting to parry or evade to then get my attack in. I played on hard and I
think that added to the combat but even on normal, prepare to die, there is
definitely a learning curve from old titles.
Then, after a short tutorial the world and story open up and
it’s this which really pulled me into Origins. I will avoid story specific
spoilers where I can here but the story is built on revenge, when it began I
thought ‘Here we go again’. But I had made that deal with myself, I was
sticking with it and thank god I did. Assassins Creed Origins is the most human
feeling title in the franchise since Ezios storyline. The main characters Bayek
and his wife Aya feel like actual human people, the ones you encounter in the
real world, they aren’t snarky pirate dickheads, they aren’t the naive child
from AC3, and they aren’t the forgettable one from Unity. These feel like
characters with feeling that develop and learn as you progress.
Bayeks personality and development (you barely play or see
Aya, but she plays a big part still) comes mostly from side missions, where you
get to see him do his actual job. Prior to devoting his life to murder for
revenge, Bayek was a medjay, an ancient Egyptian policeman of sorts. His
interactions with people who are suffering under greedy abusive overlords,
people who have had things stolen, and people who simply need help show him as
an actual person not fully engulfed in seeking revenge. He can deal with more
than one thing at a time, the side quests show a side to Bayek not seen in any
of the other Assassins creed games, he actually wants to use his abilities to
help people.
The couples struggle with grief is also one of the themes
that gripped me. Bayek and Aya are two very different people and it’s within
the context of this grief that you see this really play out. Both decide to
busy themselves and throw themselves fully into different tasks with similar
aims. This is another way that makes them feel human and it is because of this
I wanted to see where both Bayek and Aya would be at the end of Origins.
Origins ends strongly, it left enough unanswered to keep me
interested and bring me back when story dlc is available. In the meanwhile
though, I have been riding around Egypt helping its people, freeing rebels,
fighting in roman arenas, hunting, and racing chariots. Oh and defeating Gods.
As of writing, I have completed roughly 99% of the game. All I have left to do
is the arena fights (which in a recent update added a horde mode), I have
completed all side quests (even the one added in the latest update), and all
locations. So for now, Bayek is wandering around Egypt looking for trinkets to
loot in order to get the final achievement.
Assassins Creed Origins is my biggest surprise of the year,
I thought I would be returning to familiar waters but I was wrong. This is an
Assassins Creed with no stalking missions, no double hidden blade, no flags,
feathers or sheet music to collect, a dedicated crouch button, shields, spears,
bows, interesting characters and camels.
Bomber Crew
A month before release, Bomber Crew appeared on my radar…..
I hate myself. After stumbling on a couple of articles on the game on twitter I
gave the developers a follow. Bomber Crew is a strategic sim where you command
a WW2 British Lancaster bomber in a series of missions over the channel and
Europe. Think Dambusters meets FTL.
Don’t let the games simple look lower your guard, it gets
difficult quickly. After learning the basics of take-off, landing, navigating,
targeting and maintenance you are thrown straight into the deep end with a
fresh full crew and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The game has you moving
different members of your crew to complete tasks to meet the mission
objectives. Sounds nice and simple when you say it like that doesn’t it.
One of my first memories took place on a mission to drop off
supplies in the Channel to a downed fighter pilot. With my plane in the air and
my course navigated, I positioned a crew member in the bombing bay, opened the
hatch and readied the supplies to be dropped. Only then I was notified about
the enemies that just appeared on our radar. Three of them, all heading
straight for me. I mark them as targets which allows for my gunners to
pre-emptively attack. We open fire and the three enemies split up. Shit, in the
panic I just flew over the downed pilot I was trying to help.
We adjust our course to sweep around and try again. The rear
gunner lands a stream of rounds that takes out an enemy on our tail. There’s
two left. As we turn to make a second pass we open ourselves up to fire. Its
then our top gunner is hit, close to death he needs first aid. I send my bomber
to assist him. But now there’s nobody manning the bombing bay, and thus the
supplies. We miss the target again. Altering the course we try again. The other
two enemies are incapacitated in quick time. The rear gunner has proved himself
today. There’s not much fuel left, but it should be enough. My bomber takes his
place in the bay as we anxiously make our third pass. We make the drop and we
are notified ‘return to base’. Spirits are high, everyone’s alive, we are on
our way home.
It’s a short lived success. Somewhere over Dover we lose our
hydraulics, which means we lose our landing gear. The engineer is quick to get
to work but repairs take time. But time is something we don’t have since we
have 2 minutes worth of fuel left. Fuck it. With not enough fuel to keep us up until
the issue is fixed and no landing gear yet, we aim for the tarmac. The mechanic
is working as fast as he can, but we are coming in fast. I’m certain I’ve
doomed my crew to a humiliating fate.
It is when I have started to pray for my crew that the mechanic
gets the job done, we have our hydraulics back. I lower the landing gears as we
rapidly descent, maybe it’s too late, maybe there’s a chance. I have done all I
could, It’s out of my hands.
Mission Success. We pulled it out of the bag and it was
absolutely exhilarating. We got everyone home safe, the rear gunner got a
promotion along with the mechanic and the navigator. Back at base as we heal
and repair the plane you get a chance to customise your crew and your bomber.
The options for customising the plane can get pretty deep, there’s a lot to
choose from as every part affects something else, usually negatively. Then
there is the same decisions to be made with your crew’s equipment and skills
they earn which adds to the relationship you have with the crew.
Bomber Crew is a tense game, the management of the plane is
stressful enough, but add in combat and you have yourself an adrenaline ride.
The reason it is all so stressful is because you care about your crew, you
recruited them, you flew with them on their debut mission, you seen them get
promoted, you seen them at their happiest completing a mission, you see them
terrified when it looks like they don’t have long left, you grieved with them
for the crew that didn’t make it.
Fire Pro Wrestling World
I love professional wrestling. I have always wanted a good
wrestling game. Until earlier this year I had never heard of Fire Pro. Fire Pro
Wrestling World is my first game in the Fire Pro series. After hearing Spike
Chunsoft was using Steams early access I knew I couldn’t pass up on the offer.
As a massive wrestling fan, I have been disappointed year after year in my
search for a quality wrestling game. In my opinion, the 2K games fail to
recognise wrestling’s ‘worked’ nature and take place in a world where kayfabe
never died, feeling more like a bad sports game than a wrestling game. It’s
here Fire Pro World succeeds.
What make FPWW feel like a true wrestling game is that it
doesn’t matter if you win or lose, all’s that matters is working a good match
for the crowd. At the moment there is no career mode or ‘Universe mode’ (though
there is a management mode scheduled for release early 2018) so the only thing
that measures any level of success is each individual match rating. Whist
actually playing the game and controlling a wrestler is great as you can direct
where the match is going the real fun for me comes from simming matches.
Utilising Steam Workshop, Fire Pro allows players to upload
created wrestlers or ‘edits’ to be downloaded by anybody. This provides
infinite value as the only limit is your imagination. On the workshop you have
edits of wrestlers from all throughout history, from across the globe, from the
biggest names to the smallest indie talent, which allows for you to create your
dream matches; Ric Flair vs Shinsuke Nakamura, Shaun Michaels vs AJ Styles,
John Cena vs Hulk Hogan, and the Bullet Club vs NWO.
Along with a massive creation tool to make edits look like
their real life counterparts, each edit comes with their own customisable AI
and logic. Mastering the AI and logic settings of each edit takes some time to
master, but doing so allows them to wrestle just as they do in real life which
gives you realistic feeling matches that have you on the edge of your seat.
I’m aware Fire Pro Wrestling World is a niche game.
Generally speaking you have to like wrestling, you then have to be happy with a
2D game, and on top of that one of its main draws is its ridiculously deep
creation suite and AI editor which may feel overly complicated and pretty
cryptic to some (me included, I had to seek help from the community as the game
doesn’t make much clear in terms of its editing). Nevertheless, if you want to
just download some of your favourite wrestlers, boxers, pop culture icons and
see them fight it out in a landmine death match, then this is the game for you.
PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds
Beyond a doubt my horror game of the year has to be Player
Unknowns Battlegrounds. Only Arma has provided me with this same tense fear
that makes me question my every single move, which is no surprise considering
PUBG’s lineage. Whilst this isn’t the first battle royale game to exist, it is
definitely the first to grab so much attention.
The premise of PUBG isn’t original either, Battle Royale,
The Condemned and I guess The Hunger Games all use the idea of numerous people
fighting to the death until there remains only one survivor. However it is this
premise that is so simple which lends itself to video games so easily. On
paper, it’s a massive free for all death match where players search for loot to
increase their chances of survival on an ever shrinking battlefield.
It’s the survival element of the game that makes it so
scary, and in turn makes it such a good game. Every decision you make effects
your chances of survival on the battlefield. Do you run through the open field
to move quickly from the deadly blue wall or do you crawl to avoid any
potential sharpshooters. Do you stay camped in a bathroom because you heard a
creek from downstairs, or do you move and try and get the drop on them? Do you
shoot and give away your position or do you wait patiently and let him pass?
But what makes PUBG stand out so much is that it allows
players to create their own moments, moments they talk about in work, with
friends, in the pub. Everybody who plays a game of PUBG has a story to tell.
Every player has an experience that is uniquely theirs, and this is what makes
PUBG so special. Add to this that you can play as a duo or in a squad of four,
then you end up creating stories with friends.
However there is a downside, PUBG is a janky mess. With its
1.0 release on PC it has improved massively and most problems have been ironed
out, but the Xbox version has a long way to go. Yet, with that being said, when
it first entered Early Access on PC, PUBG was still fantastic. Some people
honestly can’t play a game if there is a frame rate drop or any late texture
pop in and that is completely fine, but if you can look past the technical
hiccups and see what lies at the core of battlegrounds, then you can have
yourself an amazing time.
Doki Doki Literature Club
Ok, so the less said about this game the better. It is a
visual novel but there I so much more to it. The premise? You are a school kid
who agrees to join your friend’s literature club, from there you meet new
people and write some poetry to appease different members of the club. After
launching the game, it makes you aware of the serious themes the game handles.
Often I found myself thinking I knew where the story was going to go next but
it somehow managed to stay fresh (maybe this is because I hadn’t played a
visual novel/dating sim before).
Anyway, Doki Doki Literature Club is free on steam and will
probably run on a calculator. I recommend you do no research on the game and
just dive in.
Yakuza 0
The Yakuza series is one I have always wanted to jump into
but I never quite knew where to start. Thankfully Yakuza 0 came out this year
and after watching the first few episodes of Giant Bombs playthrough I knew I
should stop and dive in myself. I bought a PS4 for this game out of sheer
excitement.
I don’t think I have ever played a game that evokes such a
strong sense of time and place. The 80s Tokyo setting is absolutely
astonishing, the handcrafted open world is full of atmosphere whether it is day
or night and it feels huge even though it is relatively small, part of this is
because there is just so much to do. This is most evident when you can finish
the main game and rack up just 13% completion. Whether it is pocket circuit
racing, karaoke, or visiting the arcades there Yakuza manages to present the
illusion of a full city to explore and take part in when you aren’t punching
yakuza in the face.
In addition to its world and atmosphere, Yakuza 0 manages to
be the funniest game of the year and also the most dramatic. Somehow it
balances absurdist comedy with it tough gangland story. You go from fighting to
get free from the yakuza to defending an off brand Michael Jackson from ‘zombies’
for a Thriller music video. And let’s
not get started on the Karaoke scenes, as soon as they become available, do it.
Kingdoms and Castles
In trying to escape the shithole of a year 2017 has been, I
stumbled across Kingdoms and Castles, a city planning game with a massively
welcomed ‘non-combat mode’. When I started playing, I never (and still haven’t)
attempted a playthrough with combat, it is something I simply have no interest
in so I’ll admit I can’t speak for that side of the game.
This is one of those city builders that allows the player to
choose their desired level of depth, you can make this as complicated as you
want you, and this is why it stuck with me this year. In the beginning, I spent
hours looking after a tiny hamlet with just 50 citizens in making sure I could provide
enough resources and entertainment to keep them healthy and happy.
Eventually I
expanded, creating houses for new settlers to stay, districts for entertainment
and industry, religious and academic districts, I even found myself building a
bridge to another small island to create a mini village on the outskirts of my
now growing city (I think the word I’m looking for is suburb). There isn’t much
more I can say about Kingdoms and Castles, it has a nice style it allowed me to
live out my dream of being a benevolent dictator, I can’t ask for more than
that.
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