Stuff I Enjoyed in 2017 — Video Games
Straight after Christmas I’ll be flying to Japan for a long vacation, seeing friends and sights. I’m looking forward to once again spending the New Year far from home. This week I’m getting everything in order, and it occurs to me that unless I do a “2017 in review” post now, it’ll never happen. So, here it is!
Disclaimer: as with every year, I did not consume literally 100% of media created in the year 2017. That would be unhealthy.
My best game of the year is Yakuza 0. When fans talk about franchises, there is usually some beyond-exceptional title in the lineage, a game so good that for better or worse, the audience can’t let go of it.
“It’s no Symphony of the Night, but…”
“It’s no Snake Eater, but…”
“It’s no Final Fantasy (NUMBER BEFORE YOU FEEL THAT SQUARE “LOST ITS WAY”), but…”
Yakuza 0 is that game for its series, a masterpiece of its own form.
If you aren’t familiar with the Yakuza series, it’s an action RPG that casts the player as a heroic good-guy gangster in the seediest district of Tokyo. The fictional Kamurocho (based on the real Kabukicho, Shinjuku) is a living town rendered in the most minute detail, and there is as much reason to wander aimlessly as there is to actually progress the story. Imagine Shenmue, but with things for you to do beyond forklifting and toy collecting.
Yakuza 0 is particularly bursting with content, even as this series goes, and soon you’ll be swept away with the sheer amount of things to do on the side. It’s really easy to get lost in side quests, and when you do the game completely changes moods from a crime drama about an honorable gangster trying to do the right thing to a goofy situation comedy about an out-of-place dad.
When you sit down to play this game, you can choose which one of those you want, along with a number of mini-games (many of which are effectively full games on their own) on the side for flavor. That’s a big part of the Yakuza series’ strength and longevity: it delivers a great story and satisfying action, but it does so at your pace. If you get bored in this game… that’s your fault.
The game that got the biggest emotional reaction out of me is Nier:Automata. I’ve been “meaning” to play one of Yoko Taro’s games since Drakengard back in the day, but I was always kept from doing so by the knowledge that actually getting through the game itself would be a slog. My final push towards this game was that Taro had switched developers to Platinum, Japan’s premier action game developer. I figured Platinum couldn’t possibly deliver a bad action experience, even if they wanted to.
After Automata, I’ll put up with pretty much anything for a Yoko Taro story. This isn’t really a “Platinum action game”, it’s a Yoko Taro RPG that Platinum happens to have put together for him. Taro is as quirky a creator as his interviews indicate, but he’s got a lot more up his sleeve than raw weirdness; by the end, what’s moving about this game is its sheer, sad humanity.
As anyone who’s finished the game will warn you, you aren’t close to done the first time you see the credits roll. The game does make you slog through places you’ve been before too often, and maybe a few of the action set-pieces are ill-advised, but eventually the world and the characters swallow you up and you’re moving forward because you care — a LOT — about what becomes of them. The emotional catharsis of the finale moved me in a way no video game ever has, and I seriously can’t listen to some of that music anymore.
I was lucky enough to need to get a Nintendo Switch *for work*, which was a delightful excuse. (See my ARMS guide at Polygon.) The effect of a device that goes from TV to portable in a moment really can’t be overstated. It’s unbelievably convenient, and it changes your routine. It’s by no means my primary console — that is still the PS4, my fighting game box — but it’s got amazing feel. A pleasure to use, and it has Picross.
Super Mario Odyssey was worth buying a console over and is a standout even among Mario games. The level of craft and creativity on display in Nintendo’s big games is really stunning. Hardware doesn’t matter at all when you’re this damn good at making games. I don’t clear Mario games out — rather, I play until they get hard enough that (Dark Side) they’re a bother — but I spent many weeks exploring these delightful worlds. Imagine if other developers had the time that Nintendo gives their teams to craft and perfect works as absolutely flawless as this one. Aside from the motion control stuff.
The game that got the most of my time this year was Gundam Versus. (I reviewed it at Polygon.) I am a big fighting game fan and occasionally a tourney player, so it’s always really exciting for me to take up a new game, no matter what it is. I get particularly absorbed as I run down the whole roster, trying to learn and perform as much as I can.
(My Injustice 2 guide was probably the hardest I worked this year, but it was also a lot of fun, as I was piecing together a game that was totally new to me and I’m very proud of the result.)
Gundam Versus is a whole new subgenre of fighting game for me (and most players outside of Japan), with a roster too large (94 plus about 20 DLC Mobile Suits) for me to ever get fully acquainted with. As such, it’s eaten me alive. A mutant cousin of Virtual On, Gundam Versus is a game of high-speed team combat with deep characters and all the tactics and guessing games of a fighter. Learning to zip around the stage like a Gundam pilot is tough, but once it clicks the feeling is addictive, and the game truly begins. Team play and tactics are a big part as well, giving the game a compelling meta dimension.
If you’re a Gundam fan, this is the best arcade-style Gundam game you’re going to play. If you like fighting games, this is a whole new world. Check it out.
I’m still playing Street Fighter V. The fact is, I really like the core game design and philosophy beneath all of the publisher’s bullshit, and so the game remains in rotation. I’ve really enjoyed the DLC characters this season as well, and from where I’m standing this game seems quite alive. The game’s biggest problems (Fight Money and the poor netplay) seem like they are here to stay after two years, though.
I’m still playing Guilty Gear Xrd. Even putting aside the fact that I am all about GG’s anime/metal aesthetic, this game boasts what is probably the best fighting game engine ever made. If the player pool was large enough (like SFV) that I could just get matches in my area and at my approximate skill level every time I queued up, I would play this way more than I currently play SFV. This game makes me feel bad that I don’t go to more local tournaments.
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