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 On 01/04/2018 at 02:55 PM by daftman See More From This User » |
2017 continued the blurry trend of recent years in flying by, and I continued my trend of attempting to play cool games, so let's talk about it. First up are all the games I beat this year and then how many I bought or somehow acquired (don't worry, I don't list those specifically). Be sure to stick around for the Golden Hippo Awards after that!
Games Beaten
January—Pokémon Sun (3DS); Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition (PS4)
February—Magicka 2 (PS4) (PS+); Destiny: Rise of Iron (PS4)
March—Gravity Rush 2 (PS4); Dragon Quest (iOS)
April—Shantae (3DS VC - GBC)
May—Gradius Collection: Gradius II (PSP)
June—Nemesis (GB); Azure Striker Gunvolt (3DS)
July—
August—Steins;Gate (Vita)
September—Rollers of the Realm (PS4/Vita); God Eater 2: Rage Burst (PS4)
October—Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
November—Raiden V: Director's Cut (PS4); F.E.A.R. (360); Destiny 2 (PS4)
December—Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS); Yakuza Kiwami (PS4); Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Total Beaten: 20
20 games beaten is a noticeable drop from the 28 I got through last year. But I also played some really long games this year that stretched from month to month. Still, it was a good year and I'm happy with the games I got through.
Games Bought
or somehow acquired
Note: Click on a month to go to that month's recap and see what these games are. The PS+ games in parentheses are part of the total but I wanted to make special note of them since I didn't have to pay for them beyond the subscription fee.
January—7 (PS+: 6)
February—8 (PS+: 6)
March—10 (PS+: 5)
April—8 (PS+: 6)
May—7 (PS+: 6)
June—8 (PS+: 5)
July—4 (PS+: 4)
August—9 (PS+: 4)
September—6 (PS+: 4)
October—7 (PS+: 5)
November—9 (PS+: 5)
December—17 (PS+: 4)
Total Bought/Acquired:100 (PS+: 60)
Coming in right at 100! And only 40 of those were not tied to PS+. Considering that this is my wife and me buying games for ourselves AND our kids now (well, my oldest son at least), I think we're doing pretty well.
Addendum of Sorrow: Games I spent time with in 2017 but didn't finish:
-Splatoon (Wii U) - The gameplay is a lot of fun but I would have stuck with it a lot longer if I'd had someone to play with all the time.
-Torment: Tides of Numenera (PS4) - I really loved the story and world of this RPG but I got it during a very busy time, personally, and it got lost in the shuffle. I'd still love to go back to it.
The Golden Hippo Awards
*Drum rolllllll* It's time for the fifth annual Golden Hippo Awards! The game industry is on the edge of its collective seat, I am sure. Just remember, everybody, that these awards are based solely on the games I played in 2017 and my opinions about them. Many of these didn't even come out in 2017! But these are a lot of great games. Let's start off with a dark horse pick...
Game of the Year: Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)
While it's true that I did play some objectively better games in 2017, no game grabbed hold of me quite like Gravity Rush 2. I loved the characters and enjoyed their story, and the gravity-shifting gameplay was a continual treat. I loved exploring the two cities in the game and finding all the secret and optional stuff, culminating in one of my few Platinum trophies! Gravity Rush 2 is a fantastic game and I wish more people had experienced it.
Runner Up: Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Odyssey is fantastic, as expected, and I've certainly enjoyed playing it. And since I've merely finished the story, I hear there is still 2/3 of the game still ahead of me! 
Runner Up: Yakuza Kiwami (PS4)
As a newcomer to the series, I was not prepared for how awesome these games are. Looking forward to playing another!
Best Story: Steins;Gate (Vita)
As a visual novel, this game is almost entirely dependent on its story but oh man, what a story! It's a long game but worth it.
Best Music: Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
Nintendo once again knocks it out of the park with Mario's music (see also Galaxy and 3D World!).
Best Multiplayer: Magicka 2 (PS4)
In this game you combine elements to make crazy spells on the fly, and thanks friendly fire you will likely, well, light yourself and/or your friends on fire. Many times. It's awesome!
Comfort Food Gaming Award: Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)
I had never played this game before but it was really nice just to play. Not a lot of stress, not a lot of demand on the player. Just an old school linear JRPG. Totally would have fit in with my childhood if I had played this game back then.
Most Satisfying Victory: Gradius II (PSP)
Near the end of Gradius II there is a boss gauntlet that I had real trouble with, particularly one ship that sent out missiles that went off screen and then came from above and below you at the same time. So. Many. Deaths. Even though the PSP version lets you save, you still start at the beginning of the boss gauntlet no matter where you died in it. When I finally bested the last alien monstrosity, I jumped up to dance for joy.
Honorary iOS Awards
I generally don't track or backlog iOS games (Dragon Quest this year being an exception). I'm much more lax with myself, thankfully, but here are some great ones I played this year.
Missile Cards—I wrote a blog about this one earlier in the year. It's like a turn-based Missile Command card game. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Arkanoid vs Space Invaders—This game is a clever mash up of two venerable arcade franchises. Very cool and free of annoying microtransactions.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp—I've enjoyed this game as a little time waster. It's incredibly charming, of course, and while not as fully featured as previous Animal Crossing games, it still scratches the same kind of itch and turned out better than I had anticipated.
EDIT: Here's my Pocket Camp friend code if anybody wants to add me: 6729 7947 987
And with that we bid adieu to 2017. We hardly knew ye. Onto 2018!
I wish DQ IV Chapters would come to XBO. I need downloadable games like that as breaks. I'm curious about Magicka. I'd like a visual novel on my Vita. May try Steins Gate sometime. Gravity Rush looks interesting.
I beat 17 games last year. Of course, some are exactly completed 100% but I beat the main story line.
I don't think Square Enix has brought the old Dragon Quest games to any consoles, just portables and phones. And, of course, I doubt they give a rip about the Xbox lol. I'm sure you and Mark would get a kick out of playing Magicka. The Vita is THE system for visual novels (other than the PC, I guess, but I give the Vita the edge for portability). I hope to play the Danganronpa games eventually.
Well, Romancing Saga 2 is on Xbox. Come one Square-Enix, bring a DQ to XBO.
Weird that Magicka 1 was developed with MS XNA and Magicka 2 is on PS4 but not XBO. Strange.
I'm going to have to keep a close look for Visual Novels on Vita this year for my rentals.
I played Gravity Rush 2, but didn't beat it. It was fun, but other games enticed me more at the time.
My favorite music from Mario Odyssey was Steam Gardens.
I played and reviewed Arkanoid vs. Space Invaders! It was so cool and had lots of classic Taito references. i'm so glad Taito is still around in some form or fashion. They're awesome!
I love AC: Pocket Camp, too! Here's my friend code if you don't have it already.
9466 4856 161
I remember when the first new Wolfenstein game came out and everyone was singing its praises so loudly and we had people here on Pixlbit playing it multiple times in a row because they liked it so much. So I played it and...it was fine. I enjoyed it but felt no need to ever revisit it. Stuff speaks to people in different ways. At least you gave Gravity Rush 2 a shot!
Pocket Camp friend request sent!
Sorry, that was me.
I think KnightDriver was in that boat too.
I still liked Gravity Rush 2 and I beat the first game on Vita. I think it was just a timing thing. There were other games that I wanted to play and review. The game will still get a mention on my Game of the Year awards.
you should check out DQ8 on the 3DS. It's a lovely game. The only detraction is it doesn't have the symphonic soundtrack the PS2 version does.
I actually have DQ VIII on the PS2 (gotten from a friend who was moving on to newer consoles and didn't care about old stuff anymore; yeah, one of THOSE people lol) and so it's hard for me to justify double dipping just for portability. I'd love to get DQ VII on the 3DS though. It's such a huge improvement over the original PS1 game, after all.
It is... but DQ8 is one of the best JRPG's of all time, and I definitely recommend it. :)
I just bought GR remastered and GR 2 and I dig them, but there are some annoying moments where I'll run into things without meaning to, miss air kicks (TO HELL WITH SWORDFISH NEVI) and combat is either too easy or infuriating. I hate the fetch quests, because lifting objects has really poor hit detection.
And yet, I too love the characters/story, and the mechanics are really fun when they work properly.
I jumped into Yakuza with 0 ( and actually rented GR 2 and that earlier this year, so thanks GameFly) and I too am amazed by how fun it is. Only I take it these games are all kinda the same based on veterans' impressions of them.
I imagine you wouldn't want to play the Yakuza games back to back because they'd get too samey. But one every year or two would probably keep them feeling pretty fresh.
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