Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

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Phaseknox
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Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by Phaseknox »

While it feels like I played a lot games last year, I only finished ten of them. The following are the ten that I finished, and what I thought of them.

10) Full Throttle Remastered
I really liked this game back when it originally came out, but like most point-and-click adventure games at the time the puzzles could be difficult to figure out and if you got stuck on one it was basically game over because there wasn't the internet back then to look up the solution. I never finished it, so I thought that I would give the remastered version with improved graphics a go. The story, characters and humor are all good, but the core game is your standard old school point-and-click adventure game with a lot of hard to figure out puzzles. I was constantly going on the internet to figure out the solutions to a lot of the puzzles which isn't how I like to play games. I can understand needing to look up a solution to a puzzle every now and then, but I was having to do it continuously. The charm and humor made it worth playing and I did figure out a lot of the puzzles on my own, but lots of illogical puzzles and its extremely short length brought the overall experience down quite a bit.

9) Never Alone
This is a 2.5D side scrolling platform game where you play as a young Alaska Native girl and her fox sidekick going on a quest to discover what's causing an endless snowstorm. I instantly liked the graphics and gameplay, and found the platforming to be a good challenge and the puzzles clever. But taking place in Alaska and being mostly ice and snow, there wasn't too much variety in the scenery. There was also a lack of action and combat which made the gameplay a little repetitive since it was almost all running, platforming and light puzzle solving the entire time. But I found the game charming, and the perfect challenge and length. I also enjoyed watching the real life video clips about the indigenous people that the game is based on that you unlocked throughout the game.

8) Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity
While this is labeled as an action JRPG (and why I bought it), it's in fact a linear isometric view action game with some light RPG and platforming elements. It looks and plays pretty good with long varied levels, the combat mechanics are decent and the platforming that it offers is fun. The main problem with it is that it presents almost no challenge. Well, it does but the fact that there's health refills everywhere removes the challenge of the combat since you can replenish your health almost every step of the way throughout the levels. The only real challenge comes from the platforming and bosses, but unfortunately there's not a lot of platforming. The bosses are challenging without being cheap, including the last one which is pretty tough. I found the game fun to play, but it would have been even better if they lessened the amount of health refills that they offered throughout the levels.

7) Night in the Woods
This 2D side scrolling "game" is charming, cute and humorous with a dark side. I put 'game' in quotes because I found it to be more of an interactive story than an actual game. Sure there's some gameplay involving navigating your character through the environments, some light platforming here and there and a few mini-games, but the majority of the game involves going to places, talking to people and watching events unfold. So thankfully the story and characters are pretty good. The humor is somewhat hit and miss, but I found a lot of it to be good. I felt that the story got a little too out there (especially near the end), but I still found it interesting overall. This is a good game to play when you want to play something more chill, and less demanding. It's not worth full price IMO, but is definitely something that you should check out when it's on sale.

6) Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
This is a comical and quirky somewhat open city quest based anime style action beat-em-up game with a humorous premise. You basically beat the snot out of vampire type people to weaken them so that you can strip off their clothes exposing their skin to the sunlight which kills them. The game is totally absurd, but also totally fun IMO. I always like games that are different, and this one most certainly is. The story and characters are a hoot, and while the core gameplay is repetitive I still found it entertaining. It's definitely not for everyone, but I think that anyone who likes anime and quirky games should enjoy it.

5) Headlander
This is a 2.5D side scrolling retro sci-fi action adventure puzzle game developed by Double Fine with a unique concept - you play as a head. A human head in a helmet that can fly around with a booster in the helmet, and land on android and robot bodies to walk around like the other citizens. You can land on other things too such as terminals and such to activate things and so forth. The concept is totally out there, and makes for a humorous video game experience. The gameplay is fairly varied with flying, shooting and puzzle solving. The story and characters are good with some cinematic flare, the graphics are nice, the gameplay is solid, the levels are cleverly designed and it's just something that's different and entertaining to play.

4) Yakuza 0
Anyone who's played a Yakuza game knows that they all basically follow the same formula of cinematic dramatic stories, lots of character interaction, running around entertainment districts of Japan and beating the snot out of bad guys with varied martial arts moves and anything that's not nailed down. The real appeal of these games for me are their stories and characters, and this one really delivers. While the combat is fun, it does get repetitive. Switching between two different characters for different parts of the story added some variety, but the core gameplay can get a little stale after a while. However, the story and characters kept me coming back for more. The type of storytelling that this game delivers is rare in video games, but totally entertaining. This is as much of a movie as it is a game, and it's great how it blends the two. It's a long game with a lot to experience throughout, and I really enjoyed my time with it.

3) Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
This game grabbed me from the start, and I didn't want to put it down once I started playing it. The story intrigued me instantly, and the visuals are stunning oozing with dark and disturbing atmosphere. Senua is a convincingly real character with authentic emotions. She's going on an unpleasant quest in a horrific land, and you're right there with her feeling what she's feeling. While the core gameplay is a little on the light side outside of combat since you don't do much more than navigate environments and solve some puzzles, the experience as a whole is compelling and entertaining. And while the combat is a little basic in terms of what you can do, I found it more intense and visceral than some games with more complex combat. This is a game that I don't really have too many complaints with, it delivers an unsettling experience from start to finish and I enjoyed every minute of it.

2) Horizon Zero Dawn
This is a third person open world quest based action adventure game that borrows from games like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Tomb Raider. It has the Ubisoft open world game design formula which gives it a little less of its own identity IMO. The unique thing that it brings to the table are machines and mechanical animals as the main threat. The core gameplay involves more hunting, stealth and strategy than straight-up combat that turned me off a little at first, but I soon embraced it. It's really good at almost everything that it does - the story and characters are great, the graphics are probably the best that I've seen in a game, the world is big and fairly varied, the gameplay is intuitive smooth and streamlined, the voice acting music and sound effects are top notch and it's packed with content. While I found the overall experience to be a little longwinded, I definitely had some of the most exciting gaming moments of the year playing it.

1) The Last Guardian
This game took a little while to come out (I know that's an understatement), but it finally did and it was worth the long wait. It's dark fantasy in video game form at its finest. You play as a young boy who wakes up in a strange unknown place and befriends a giant bird/cat/dog creature, then the adventure begins. The boy wants to go home, and his new feathered/furry friend is going to help him. This is a beautifully crafted third person action/adventure/platform/puzzle game that is a joy to play from start to finish. The experience was truly wonderful, and despite some flaws like a somewhat poor camera it delivered in almost every way. It was the best game that I played in 2017.
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argyle
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by argyle »

Great list Phase - I think the only 2 I either haven't played or don't already have in my backlog are Night In the Woods and Full Throttle. I'll have to keep an eye out for Night In the Woods, but I learned my lesson with going back to old point-and-click games when I tried to play the Grim Fandango remaster. Like you said, it's just no fun following a guide to do nearly everything in the game, and the puzzles are so obtuse that it's pretty much a necessity.
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by canedaddy »

Well done. I haven't bought 1, 3 or 4 yet but they're all high on my list.
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Phaseknox
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by Phaseknox »

argyle wrote: Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:58 pmGreat list Phase
canedaddy wrote: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:16 pmWell done.
Thanks. :D
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isthatallyougot
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by isthatallyougot »

Phase, like with argyle's list, I'll read yours later and post on it too. I don't have time to read everything at the moment. Thanks for making your list too, and I look forward to checking it out.
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Re: Phaseknox's Top 10 Games of 2017

Post by isthatallyougot »

Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm While it feels like I played a lot games last year, I only finished ten of them. The following are the ten that I finished, and what I thought of them.

10) Full Throttle Remastered
but the core game is your standard old school point-and-click adventure game with a lot of hard to figure out puzzles.


You really do have to be in the right mood to play a game in this genre - at least I do. But if you're ready, they can still be quite fun.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 9) Never Alone
I also enjoyed watching the real life video clips about the indigenous people that the game is based on that you unlocked throughout the game.
That was my favorite part of this one.

Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 8) Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity
While this is labeled as an action JRPG (and why I bought it), it's in fact a linear isometric view action game with some light RPG and platforming elements. It looks and plays pretty good with long varied levels, the combat mechanics are decent and the platforming that it offers is fun. The main problem with it is that it presents almost no challenge. Well, it does but the fact that there's health refills everywhere removes the challenge of the combat since you can replenish your health almost every step of the way throughout the levels. The only real challenge comes from the platforming and bosses, but unfortunately there's not a lot of platforming. The bosses are challenging without being cheap, including the last one which is pretty tough. I found the game fun to play, but it would have been even better if they lessened the amount of health refills that they offered throughout the levels.
Never even heard of this one, but it sounds interesting, minus the no challenge part.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 7) Night in the Woods
This 2D side scrolling "game" is charming, cute and humorous with a dark side.
I like that combination.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 6) Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
This is a comical and quirky somewhat open city quest based anime style action beat-em-up game with a humorous premise. You basically beat the snot out of vampire type people to weaken them so that you can strip off their clothes exposing their skin to the sunlight which kills them. The game is totally absurd, but also totally fun IMO. I always like games that are different, and this one most certainly is. The story and characters are a hoot, and while the core gameplay is repetitive I still found it entertaining. It's definitely not for everyone, but I think that anyone who likes anime and quirky games should enjoy it.
Comically absurd beat-em-up?! Where do I sign up. It looks a little too anime for my preferences, but otherwise, I'm very interested. I added it to my steam wish list.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 5) Headlander
This is a 2.5D side scrolling retro sci-fi action adventure puzzle game developed by Double Fine with a unique concept - you play as a head. A human head in a helmet that can fly around with a booster in the helmet, and land on android and robot bodies to walk around like the other citizens. You can land on other things too such as terminals and such to activate things and so forth. The concept is totally out there, and makes for a humorous video game experience. The gameplay is fairly varied with flying, shooting and puzzle solving. The story and characters are good with some cinematic flare, the graphics are nice, the gameplay is solid, the levels are cleverly designed and it's just something that's different and entertaining to play.
It's in my backlog, but the strange concept sounds fun. And I didn't even know it was developed by Double Fine. Add a point for that, for me.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 4) Yakuza 0
It's a long game with a lot to experience throughout
That's what I really enjoyed about my exposure to Yakuza 1 - the only entry I've played. It felt like there was so much to do - it was such a dense experience. Whenever I get back to the franchise, I'll jump back in with 0.

Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 3) Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
The story intrigued me instantly, and the visuals are stunning oozing with dark and disturbing atmosphere. Senua is a convincingly real character with authentic emotions. She's going on an unpleasant quest in a horrific land, and you're right there with her feeling what she's feeling.
All of this sounds great. I'm more a gameplay first type of person, but style and presentation can overcome lack of mechanical substance in some cases for me. I'm intrigued.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 2) Horizon Zero Dawn
It has the Ubisoft open world game design formula which gives it a little less of its own identity IMO.
Ugh. I'm still not expecting to love this one, despite having already bought it. I remain open to having my mind changed though.
Phaseknox wrote: Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:20 pm 1) The Last Guardian
it was worth the long wait..
Absolutely.
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