Due to factors beyond the control of most individuals on this planet, 2017 was an incredibly emotionally exhausting year. From depressing political news, to constant acts of violence occurring on a regular basis, I stopped reading the news and listening to the radio entirely for periods of time, just to taste a reprieve from the overwhelming sense of dread that seemed to hover over the nation last year.
Thankfully, 2017 just so happened to be one of the best years for video games in a decade. There were countless times this year when I sought refuge from political drama, social media, and other stresses by delving into games. I joked and talked with friends while shooting aliens in the head. I unwound with a few rounds of the quirkiest golf game in years. I returned to hallowed series making their triumphant return. I experienced new properties making their impactful debut.
I wanted to take this time to reflect on the games that left an impression on me in 2017.
9. Destiny 2 – PS4
Outside of the general shit storm surrounding Star Wars Battlefront II, you are doubtful to find a more controversial game released in 2017 than Destiny 2. Bungie’s follow up to their 2014 post-Halo debut shooter was met with a sharply bipolar reception. The endgame was nowhere to be found, tons of features and quality of life improvements that were present in the first game inexplicably didn’t make it over to the sequel, items that were once granted unlimited use were turned into consumables and placed behind a microtransaction paywall….those examples alone are just a small sample of the myriad issues this game has faced since it’s early September release. With the fanbase enraged and the developers struggling to contain the fallout, the Destiny franchise as a whole finds itself in a precarious position. Bungie is visibly making some of the very same well publicized errors that plagued the debut of their previous entry in the series, and the Destiny community is starting to wise up to the fact that what was once thought to simply be rookie mistakes made by a studio in transition, are actually part of a pattern of intentional behavior.
Despite all the salt and angst among the community surrounding how D2 was handled, even the most jaded players realize there is something about this game that keeps bringing them back. Maybe it’s the immaculate gunplay, accented by award winning sound design. Maybe it’s the art design and best-in-the-industry music production. Maybe it’s the seasonal events and the drive to collect as many guns and armor pieces as possible.
For me though, It’s always been about shooting the shit with my buddies while running a few missions so we can bump our power levels up just one more level. Staying up ridiculously late for just one more quest before signing off, dooming myself to a sleep deprived workday. Laughing as we push our AFK friend off a ledge of the Tower, Cheering as we finally complete the weekly Nightfall mission with a second to spare, and coming back for just one more try after failing as a team.
I suspect that the social aspect of Destiny 2 is what keeps people coming back, despite valid misgivings about the trajectory of the franchise. In a now infamous post made by Destiny’s Community Manager, it was stated to a community upset by limited endgame opportunities that “The ultimate loot is the friendships that can grow out of a game like this.” I mostly* agree, as though I haven’t signed on in months, I still mostly keep in touch with my friends I made through playing this series; Friends from back home, friends living abroad, friends I’ve never even met in person. The latest DLC Expansion for the game, Curse of Osiris, released in early December and I haven’t been bothered to play it yet, let alone purchase it. Like many others, I am waiting to see how Bungie processes the multitude of complaints and issues raised by the community before giving them any additional money. But in the meantime, I truly miss the community of friends I made playing this game, and that alone will eventually get me to give it just one more shot.
*Mostly agree, because the ultimate loot is obviously the Spicy Ramen emote
8. Golf Story – Switch
Golf Story may be the biggest surprise of the year for me. An indie studio I’ve never heard of before, Sidebar Games, released an irreverently delightful Golf RPG at the perfect point in the fledgling Nintendo Switch’s lifespan. Folks who traditionally would have never given a golf game the time of day, but were looking for unique titles to break in their shiny new console were treated to one of my favorite indie games in recent years. The game is well written, chock-full of endearing characters, and is accompanied by surprisingly decent RPG gameplay mechanics that honor the SNES/GBA era that this game is unequivocally inspired by.
My favorite part of Golf Story is all the numerous mini games, side quests, and puzzles scattered throughout the world that you solve using Golf. The game lets you tee up virtually anywhere in the game world, so if you want to hit that kid in the head from 200y away because you think it might unlock a hidden puzzle, then why the hell not? When you’re done exploring or looking for hidden secrets, a standard round of 18 holes is still immensely satisfying and challenging.
I never took a liking to Golf games until I received a free copy of Mario Golf: World Tour through the now-defunct Club Nintendo. I got really into Mario Golf for a while, like to an embarrassing degree. While Golf Story is not on the same level of complexity and depth as Mario Golf as it relates to Golf game mechanics, it’s accessible gameplay means anyone can pick it up and enjoy it with relative ease. Even if you don’t know the difference between a Birdie and a Bogey, if you have a Switch, you should check out Golf Story.
7. DJMAX RESPECT – PS4
Old habits die hard. When I was in High School/College, I used to play tons of rhythm games ranging from the mainstream household names like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero, to the more relatively obscure Japanese arcade games like beatmania IIDX and Pop’n Music. At one point in my early twenties, I owned multiple Arcade Style Controllers imported from Japan specifically to play these games in the luxury of my own home. Now however, I’ve sold off a majority of my collection and everything I have remaining is gathering dust in my storage closet. I just don’t have the passion, skill, or desire to dig out my ancient Playstation 2 and huge arcade controllers to play these kinds of games on any sort of regular basis.
That’s where DJMAX RESPECT comes in. Developed by Rocky Studio out of South Korea, DJMAX RESPECT is the first console entry in a long running series traditionally available specifically for handheld devices such as the PSP. Like most games in the genre, gameplay revolves around pressing specific buttons within precise timing windows to the beat of the music playing, ultimately concluding in your performance being scored based on your accuracy. While this gameplay loop doesn’t experience any significant modifications from previous entries in the series or even other competing games within the genre, I feel that DJMAX RESPECT’s greatest strength is delivering the same, satisfying feeling I got from previous peripheral based music games, but doing via a standard PS4 Controller. No giant plastic controller required. Gone are the days where I have to drag an entire console, massive controller, and keyboard stand (I actually went to Guitar Center when I was 20 with my beatmania IIDX controller to buy a proper keyboard stand. Yes…..I know) out of storage just to get my rhythm game fix. With multiple gameplay modes that support 4 Button, 5 Button, 6 Button and 8 Button play, and varying difficulty levels for each song, DJMAX RESPECT is surprisingly accessible to newcomers, given enough practice.
DJMAX RESPECT is campy as hell, and outside of a few select tracks from the impressive number of songs included in the game (140+ on the Disc, and tons of DLC Available), you most likely won’t want to listen to any of this music outside of playing the game unless you’re, like, super into K-Pop. But this game is a celebration and a reboot of the entire DJMAX series; even as someone who has only ever played this latest entry to the series, I was able to appreciate the amount of fan service and effort packed into this game to make it really special for long time fans of the series.
DJMAX RESPECT was just officially confirmed for a Western release sometime this year, but if you want to get your hands on a copy today, you can order a physical version of the SE Asia or Hong Kong Region discs from any online retailer, or you can create a Hong Kong PSN account, buy prepaid HK PSN Cards from Play-Asia.com and download the game digitally from the PSN Store. The game is perfectly translated for English speaking users and features one of the best User Interfaces I have ever seen in video games, period. I really wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone who isn’t already into these types of games, but if you’re curious, check it out when it arrives on PS4 stateside early this year.
6. Splatoon 2 – Switch
I was one of the few poor souls that actually bought a Wii U when they were still new. While Nintendo’s failed system never lived up to it’s true potential, the system still received a few really unique and special games. 2015’s Splatoon is, in my opinion, the best game for the entire console and one of Nintendo’s best new ideas in decades. Splatoon answered tons of criticisms that had been levied against Nintendo over the years; Nintendo doesn’t make new IP, Nintendo doesn’t make competitive shooters, Nintendo doesn’t give a shit about online games, etc… Splatoon was a bright spot for the Wii U in an otherwise bleak game landscape.
In 2017, Nintendo announced Splatoon 2 for the Switch, and with that, insured that I was definitely going to get a Switch asap. 2.5 years later and the core gameplay mechanic of covering all surfaces and opposing enemies in bright, colorful Ink still feels incredibly unique and fun. Splatoon 2 refined and balanced nearly all of the weapons and abilities from the previous game, while adding tons of additional new weapons and maps. In the hundreds of matches I have played, I’ve yet to encounter any one weapon or mechanic that feels more imbalanced than another, which is a tremendous feat when you consider the sheer number of weapons and armor/ability combinations.
One of the biggest new additions to Splatoon 2 is the immensely popular Salmon Run mode; an online 4 player co-op Horde Mode where your Inkling signs up for a part time job collecting Salmon eggs from toxic, mutant fish for an incredibly ominous company. This mode is so popular, Nintendo only enables it a few times per day out of fear that having Salmon Run available all the time would fragment the playerbase and increase matchmaking times for all game modes. It’s probably a smart move on their part, as I, if given the opportunity, would happily play Salmon Run exclusively in this game. Salmon Run is hectic and chaotic, but with the right team and everyone working together, you can breeze through rounds. Though If one person doesn’t do their job, the entire team can be overwhelmed in a matter of seconds. Additionally, the theme music for Salmon Run is creepy as hell but I can’t stop listening to it.
The style of this game is unlike anything else I’ve seen since maybe The World Ends With You or Jet Set Radio. It’s like viewing modern day Shibuya Fashion through the lens of Late 90’s Nickelodeon. Everything about Splatoon 2 oozes unique style and looks amazing while doing so. Nintendo found a way to get this game to run at a solid 60FPS in both docked and portable mode, which is an impressive achievement considering how good this game looks.
There is still so much more I could say about how I love Splatoon 2 (Pearl and Marina! Single Player! The built in Rhythm Mini Game!), but I want to acknowledge that in a business climate where Nintendo could have easily monetized all of the different progression systems in this game, such as weapon and armor acquisition, they not only have kept all cosmetic content free with no microtransactions in sight, but they’ve continually added new maps, new weapons, new music, new armor, and more at no extra cost to the user. Thank you, Nintendo.
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