Games from 2017 I played in 100 words or less each.

I've never bothered writing a TOP TEN GAMES OF THE YEAR list and I don't feel like doing one now. I do, however, have a brevity issue. Thus, I've tried to put my key thoughts on games I played this year up here in under 100 words a pop. The order is roughly what I played them in. Here you go!

Persona 5 (Playstation 4)

I enjoyed this game, yet like it less the more I think about it. The game wants to tell a tale of underdogs yet does very little to reflect this in your daily actions. Social groups that are actually underdogs in Japanese society are strangely missing. The narrative is so focused on its plot and diegetic systems that it doesn't let characters breathe. For all its time spent criticising abuses of power, in the end it backs off for vague statements about finding your aestheticss. In other words, style is ultimately more important than substance.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild (WiiU)

I tend to prefer games with a clear focus, so the open world genre is one I mostly ignore. Breath of the Wild is probably the one entry I'll play for the next 5-10 years and it's a delightfully calming experience every time. I'd have liked weapons to last a bit longer to encourage their use over bombs more, but the real joy is climbing hills and seeing what catches your eye. Between this and Scythe this was a good year for me for feet-dipping simulators.

Scythe  (Cardboard)

I'm inclined to call Scythe the next Settlers of Catan. It's not quite as simple, but they're both games that have lots of parts to play around with. Want to be a reductive jerk? Give it a shot! Want to play sim-city? That's fine too. Using an achievements system to end the game usually requires a player to have diversified and further encourages a sense of experimentation and play. This can be used to not just have diverse play experiences, but to identify what other games your friends may enjoy and expand their horizons. The new box smelled like vanilla.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 (Playstation 4, PC)

If we compare Sign to XX, then Rev 2 is well and truly the Slash of Guilty Gear Xrd. It's the version with a couple new characters, a few new moves but mostly it's about toning down all the really stupid tricks from the last two versions. That said, it's really coming to highlight how annoying the impact Yellow Cancels have on the game's flow, as well as what headaches characters like Johnny and Chipp are. Once DBFZ's had its development finished I hope that by 2019 we see an Xrd Accent Core that's completely off the hook.

The King of Fighters '98 (Nintendo Switch)

I'm glad to say that my first experience with a Nintendo Switch was in a shady corner of a bar hosting the Battle Arena Melbourne 9 afterparty. The joy-con is incredibly bad for inputting SNK motions with. I really don't know why Nintendo has abandoned the 8-way grooves that served the N64, Gamecube and Nunchuk controllers so well. That said, the joy of bopping people with Ralf f.C and 2C at 1am in a dark corner is a special delight and I highly recommend getting some Hamster Neogeo ports on your Switch for those moments.

ARMS (Nintendo Switch)

My takeaway from a weekend of ARMS was that Ribbon Girl feels like the movement options that the entire game should become built around. As far as I know the game's still a very patient, deliberate game and I can respect that as a design goal. Nevertheless, it felt a bit like those high level SF4 moments when neither player can move because they've both got option selects into Ultra prepped if the opponent so much as blinks. Nobody likes an SF4 Fei mirror. (Apologies if you do.)

Tales of Berseria (PS4, PC)

After the narrative, mechanical and business mess that was Zestria, Berseria's a return to form. I still preferred the twitchy combat of Graces F but I can't fault a Tales game that has extra ways to heal. The cast wound up endearingly dorky and Magilou's awful riffing connected with me way too strongly. Really the biggest problems with this game were that it had to tie things to Zestria, resulting in themes of Taoism suddenly being superseded by Judeo-Christian theology. Or perhaps that's an allegory...

Wild Guns Reloaded (PS4, PC)

This released on the PC this year so I'm accepting it. In an era of straight re-releases and appeals to nostalgia that copy form but not intent this game is something special. The original developers of an already enjoyable game going back to a project 20 years later to see what improvements can be made that were cut due to time or hardware limitations. Twin analogue stick controllers are so common that it's interesting to look back at the weird era of pseudo-fixed rail shooters that those pads ended. Also a dog operates a drone.

Sonic Mania (Everything except my Vita)

This is a funny little game that moves from being a Saturn Sonic, a S3&K romhack and a love letter to CD all within about an hour. It's a Sonic game and PROUD. This means one second it'll be teasing you to slow down and explore something that catches your eye then the next it'll throw a boss that barely communicates what you're supposed to do before you die. Good Sonic levels require equal mixes of exploration, speed and length that is really hard to do well. Mania mostly succeeds but like CD, has a bit too much verticality.

Killer Instinct (Steam Release)

Killer Instinct's finally been freed by Microsoft to regular people computers and oh boy has it made the wonky matchmaking even worse. KI3 is an incredible mess of horrifying ideas that man was not meant to create, yet it somehow manages to all work. I've never turned around on a game as much as I have on KI3 since its launch but it's really too little too late now.

Cuphead (All Major Current Devices)

I respect Cuphead's structure allowing each encounter to be taken one at a time. There's a bunch of little annoyances along the way that keep me rating Alien Soldier and Super Contra over it. Parrying immediately after jumping feels inconsistent. Parryable objects aren't colour-blind friendly even with the game's monochrome filter. The audiovisual feedback and invul time after taking damage feel too brief to highlight the player's mistake so they can adjust. The invulnerable dash feels way more useful than every other item. I'm not sure if the switch bug is an intentional Contra 3 tribute but I'll take it.

Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite (PS4, PC)

Much like Street Fighter V before it, this game's a cautionary tale of rushing releases. The menus are clunky, the visual effects feel unfinished and the music barely exists. On top of that the big invitational tournament was held at the same time as SFV's, cannibalising the audience. It's all sad because mechancially this game plays like a sequel to the COTA through MVC1 games. Why have assists when you can constantly tag while your partner does a move? I'm old and don't like new things but I have no qualms with anyone playing and enjoying this game.

Senko no Ronde 2 (PS4, PC)

 Senko no Ronde 2 has some serious gumption. It's a console release in 2017 that has a netplay menu straight out of a mid-00s doujin fighter. The delay-based netcode feels like it as well. In a year where Sega decided to tie Virtual ON with Index of all things, Senko no Ronde 2 is the simpler yet equally thrilling Virtual ON you can play right now. It even has overpowered VON characters you can slap down a few more dollars to play as! Hope to see some competitive live in 2018 for this one.

Gundam Vs (PS4)

I would have a lot more to say about mechanical alterations, Online Exias, the tedious unlocks for tournament setups or Crossbone X1 Full Cloth if this damn game didn't require a greater upload and download speed than my rural internet allows. Bad call, Bamco.

NieR: Automata (PS4, PC)

Computer games of large scope are pretty much always collaborative efforts. Even a renowned auteur such as Hideo Kojima has his games' style change when the music is by Rika Muranaka or Harry Gregson-Williams. Merging Yoko Taro's mixture of comedy and tragedy with Platinum's inconsistent tone, visceral animations and enemies that flash red or yellow before attacking comes across as a perfect combination of methodology. I tend to only bother with all the side quests in games I really care about experiencing the world of. I have done all of them.

Tekken 7 (XB1, PS4, PC)

I'm terrible at 3D fighters. I freeze up when trying to move around. I can't get my head into how you're meant to disrespect pressure. I like to play a brand of pressure where I do one or two safe, repetitive things over and over to establish a rhythm before breaking the pattern to try and get in someone's head. Playing a game where I don't know where that option is or have to find something else is refreshing after so many years of mashing A. Also there's Geese.

Fighting EX Layer (beta) (PS4)

Beyond their history with making Street Fighter EX, Arika's a design crew not afraid to let the world burn if they think it'd be funny. SFEX had slow, patient footsies? Let's give everyone Melee Luigi's wavedash! Should getting knocked down 10 times mean you now ignore everything that's not a sweep, throw or super? No, but they put it in anyway! Remember when Tetris The Grandmaster made the blocks invisible? Now Hokuto's doing it too! I love fighting games living a life free of fear and the greatest obstacle now is... the delay-based netcode.

Monster Hunter World (beta) (PS4)

Monster Hunter's always felt like a backwards arcade game to me. The gameflow should be select a weapon, attribute, items, monster to hunt and get a score for time taken, items used and whether it was slain or captured. Good scores lead to cosmetic rewards and a leaderboard. Instead it expects you to farm the same monsters ad nauseum to get weapon variants that... let you kill the same monsters faster. I'm just not motivated by that sort of structure and find myself replaying Demon's Souls for the 4398th time instead.