GOTY 2017 Discussion

Cress said:

Oh boy I've been waiting for this
Before I start, I still have yet to play Nier Automata and Super Mario Odyssey which I've heard excellent things about both of those games, so I can't include them.
Anyways I'm gonna spoiler this since this is going to be a wall of a post.

Spoiler: My top 3 games of this year

3) Xenoblade Chronicles 2
I'm a bit hesitant on placing this since this game is so new and I'm still in the middle of playing it but it has been a great experience so far. It's one of the few RPG's I've played where I genuinely enjoy every single party member (something I can't say about even Bravely Default which I adore). Every area is just as unique and distinguishable as you'd expect from a Xenoblade game. The music is generally great, although the environmental themes are a tad bland with Mor Ardain and the Old Factory being the exceptions. The story always has something happening and something to look forward to, so there aren't many dull moments. The game overall doesn't really have anything new or unique about it; it's a solid game that does what has worked in the previous games in the series and that sometimes is the best way to make a game.

2) Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Fire Emblem has gotten so much this year and it's a bit strange how the only actual FE game got the least attention. With that said, it is vastly different from a standard FE game, but with the exact opposite of what I just said about XC2, having a game try something new once in a while is good too! Well... new for anyone outside of Japan that is, since this game is a 3DS remake of an NES game. Alm's route is closer to a standard FE experience with mostly open fields and a castle or fort map every now and then with almost no gimmicks. Celica's route is endless gimmicks that were for the most part never used or sparingly used in other FE games. But I had much more fun playing on Celica's path since this entire game was made to be different from other FE's, and that's what Celica's path focuses on. The music variety was a bit low for a standard FE game (which again is understandable as it's an NES game with several gallons of glitter poured onto it to make it presentable in 2017), but even after beating the game, every song is enjoyable to listen to and the few songs that the game has contain some of the best music in FE. The story is basic and predictable but the game is purely fun to play. This game also has some of the best voice acting I've heard ever. Most of that can be credited towards Ian Sinclair as Berkut, but hearing the interactions between almost every character felt genuine and were a joy to listen to.

1) Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
This was the only non-Nintendo game I played this year but wow does it take my #1 spot by far (can I retroactively nominate this as my GOTY for every year in the last decade too pls&ty). I started off this year not even knowing a third game was coming out and the only knowledge I knew of the series was from an LP I watched in 2014 or so of the first game. I decided to finally start playing the series this year, and the fact that V3 was coming out just happened to be a coincidence, so I got to play all 3 games for my first time back-to-back. The first one wasn't as great as it probably could've been since I remembered most of the major plot points from the LP I watched, but the experience and re-discovering everything in between the major events was still great. The second game was I guess my first "true" experience as I had been spoiled on some things, but the majority of the game was a blind run for me. It was just as great as what most people have said about it. Then it was time for V3, which I went in completely blind. I didn't expect the game to be so amazing from start to finish. The story tried to separate itself from the first 2 games which was a good call I think. The characters were the best in the series by far in every way (personality, design, uniqueness, etc). The music was the best as well; the trial music was for the most part remixed or updated versions of the songs used in the first 2 games. Where the music really shines though is outside of the trials because the game can play a song such as Clair de Lune or Moon on the Water for 2 seconds and that's enough to turn you into an emotional wreck (it doesn't help that Clair de Lune was used in some Amazon commercial a few months back, so I could be walking around my house completely fine then hear the song play on some TV in a different room on the other side of the house and I'd immediately tense up). The 1 thing that is extremely controversial is the ending which is a love it or hate it case, and personally I'm more on the side of "I see what they were trying to do with the ending and I appreciate that, but they could've handled it a lot better." But even if you don't like the ending you can just pretend that it doesn't exist and everything before that was the actual game and have it end abruptly on something along the lines of "and they all lived happily ever after inside the academy." Anyways, I've never felt this many emotions playing any other game ever (actually this game may have been the first time I've felt that many emotions ever, even outside of gaming) and I don't think I'll ever forget this game and my experiences with it.
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