The Impact Factor

The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2017

Perspectives

Oh 2017. 2017 giveth. 2017 take away. 2017 won’t be forgotten. Needless to say. (Like my little poem?)

2017 has been one of the best years in gaming in a decade. I’m staking my claim now that 2017 will remain in the top-ever gaming years for decades to come. And thank everything that’s good in the world that 2017 was such a brilliant and beautiful year for digital interactive entertainment. Pretty much any other way you cut it, 2017 was a garbage truck on fire. And that’s putting it lightly.

There’s so much to say about 2017’s games. Too much to include in one list of the top 10. 2017 delivered quality across all genres and platforms. 2017 introduced several games that can hold strong against contenders in ‘best-ever’ lists. Us enthusiasts were inundated with quality these past 12 months, and I expect (hope) everyone’s “best of” lists represent this. As true as it has been the past few years, “there is just too much to play” never rang truer.

I wanted to start this top ten with a rapid-fire list of games I wish I had found time to play this year. Any, or all, of these could have been Game of the Year contenders: Resident Evil 7, Hollow Knight, Gorogoa, Wolfenstein 2, The Evil Within 2, Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Life is Strange-Before the Storm, Night in the Woods, Danganronpa V3, Golf Story, Battle Chef Brigade, Dead Cells.

But now to the Top 10! I hope this list finds you well this holiday season. May you & yours be merry, and thanks for thinking of the now fully dead TIF. Gone, but hopefully not forgotten.

10. Destiny 2

As a long-lapsed Destiny player (I played for 110 hours at launch but never came back for any DLC/expansions), I wasn’t expecting to get excited for Destiny 2. But I got excited. Very excited. And then I played it for 110 hours. Destiny 2 is an improvement on Destiny (again, speaking as a player who only engaged with release content). I joked back in 2014 that Destiny was the most fun I’d ever had with a 6/10 game. Destiny 2 is no 6/10. Much like 2014, my life became consumed by this sci-fi shooter sequel and honestly, I’m happy it was. Don’t call it a comeback – no seriously, don’t. The game has made a lot of mistakes since launch. It won’t take away the joy I experienced during those 110 hours, though. Here’s to 2020, and another 110 hours in Destiny 3.

9. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe

Yeah. I can hear you now. “But Alex, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe isn’t a new game! It came out forever ago on the Wii U!” Yeah, well. First, shut up. Second, I never played it before. Third, why are you coming here just to poo-poo my list? It had been years since I played a Mario Kart, setting lofty expectations for this Switch port, but boy were those expectations met and more. Unless you’re a slave to nostalgia, it’s pretty clear that Mario Kart 8: Deluxe is the best Mario Kart ever made. It handles like a dream. The courses are fun and colorful. Local multiplayer is a blast. So, I’m sorry, but Mario Kart makes the Top 10 cut folks. It’s fantastic.

8. NieR: Automata

NieR: Automata’s flashy combat, heavy themes, clever writing and ability to play with long-standing video game tropes earns it its spot at #8. NieR: Automata made it into my playlist on the back of glowing praise from some of my favorite critics, and boy am I glad I listened to their recommendations. NieR: Automata is better played (or seen) than explained, but I had to let you know not to sleep on this very good robot game. Plus, the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful.  

7. Pyre

Despite my longstanding affection for Supergiant Games (Bastion is wonderful; Transistor was my #3 GOTY in 2014), Pyre had me worried. Rather, Pyre had me confused. The way the game was talked about confused me – it was a visual novel, RPG sports game? The way the game demoed confused me – the multiplayer at PSX handled strangely. But none of that mattered because the final product is excellent. Supergiant is 3 for 3 with stunningly beautiful games, fantastic soundtracks, and innovative gameplay. I was immediately drawn into the purgatorial world of Pyre. Just as soon as the narrative hooks got to me so too did the surprisingly complex (and endlessly fun) gameplay of the soccer-like Rites. You can see me crush the game here.

6. What Remains of Edith Finch

Stop what you’re doing. Go play What Remains of Edith Finch. 2 hours well spent, right? Edith Finch is an emotional, imaginative experience from start to finish – letting creativity shape narrative and gameplay alike. The emotional moments worked just as effectively as the perspective shifts and gameplay experiments. No other game in 2017 so fundamentally transported me to another world. Edith Finch is a time, a place, a mood. I was blown away with Giant Sparrow’s sophomore outing. I couldn’t be more excited for what comes next.

5. Splatoon 2

I could tell you about how Splatoon 2 expands upon the colorful and creative legacy of its predecessor. I could tell you about the addictive game modes, the finely-tuned and deeply-satisfying gunplay, or the absolute sensorial delight that is Splatfest. But I won’t. I want to tell you about my, really, our first weekend with the game. Splatoon 2 released on a Friday. My wife was home that day. She booted up the game, a fan of what she had seen from the first, to see what the sequel would offer. Justine played for nearly 8 hours straight. I got home and played for a few more. Saturday and Sunday were spent trading off the controller in nearly dozen hour long play sessions. Splatoon 2 was a moment. One that I got to share with my wife. Of course we didn’t stop there, and the two of us played for nearly 3 months after the game first launched. But I’ll never forget that first weekend. That delightful, lazy weekend in which my wife and I shared something special. Thank you for that, Splatoon 2.

4. Super Mario Odyssey

Hey. Psst. In case it wasn’t clear above, this is one of those “strong contender for best-ever” games that was alluded to in the introduction. Super Mario Odyssey is journey. A symphony of sights and sounds and immaculate gameplay. Odyssey is a game that rewards the player for being curious; a game so masterfully designed it’s hard to believe that it was made by real people. Odyssey locks you into its expressive world and doesn’t let up until you’re 500+ moons deep. What has stuck with me the longest, though, isn’t Mario or Peach or the Broodals (ugh). It isn’t the throwbacks or the platforming. It’s the joy. Super Mario Odyssey is an unabashed delight from start to finish. It’s fun and funny. It exudes happiness and wants you to be happy too. In a year like 2017, I don’t know if you can ask for much more.

3. Horizon Zero Dawn

Never before has such an enticing premise on paper, an open-world game about hunting robot dinosaurs, overdelivered in the final product. Horizon Zero Dawn is an absolutely phenomenal experience. The world is rich with quests and collectibles but each feels important, never tedious. Combat beautifully meshes high-octane action gameplay with strategic situational and environmental awareness. The narrative is layered, told well and filled with characters that will stand the test of time (hi Aloy!). Horizon is jaw-droppingly beautiful to boot. Horizon is the culmination of what developers have learned from years of making open-world games, and years of fan demands of the genre. Horizon Zero Dawn is really, really good.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I hate to pit two games I adore against each other, but I feel it necessary when introducing my #2 game of the year. Whereas Horizon is a refinement on everything open-world games have been working towards, Breath of the Wild is a reinvention. This is the game all future open-world developers will look to for inspiration. Breath of the Wild is an uncanny assembly of ideas: a game so overflowing with innovation and introspection about something we collectively thought we understood that it’s hard to fathom. Every single surface in the game is open to player exploration. Breath of the Wild is one of the only games (perhaps ever) in which the game logic 1:1 matches with real world logic. That cannot be overstated. Set a field on fire to create an updraft to glide above enemies; drop your metal sword to complete an electrical circuit puzzle; and so on. Breath of the Wild is also perfectly designed for its platform, the Switch. You can play for 10 minutes or 10 hours and find satisfaction in equal measure. Like all innovators, Breath of the Wild doesn’t get everything right (moment-to-moment gameplay gets dragged down by tedious weapon fragility and cooking mechanics), but this genre-redefining title deserves all the praise that has been heaped upon it. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the most impactful game of the year. But, as you can tell by its placement, not my #1. (P.S. this is another one of those ‘best-evers'.)

1. Persona 5

Persona 5 is a masterpiece. I say without hesitation that Persona 5 is one of the best JRPGs ever made. Persona 5 has one of the most striking aesthetics ever. Persona 5 has one of the best soundtracks, ever. The list could go on. Essentially everything positive I said about the previous nine entries on the list apply here too – it refines, it innovates, it’s colorful, it has gameplay honed to a razor’s edge, etc. Persona 5 wasn’t just a game to me. It wasn’t just a moment. It was, well, a month. For a month straight, all my wife and I did was play Persona 5. All we thought about, all we talked about. We got home, scarfed down dinner, and played Persona 5 until we went to bed. For 4 weeks straight. I’m being effusive here but I can’t help myself. I’m still thinking about the space ship heist. I’m still singing “Last Surprise” and “Rivers in the Desert.” I still think about how wrong people are for choosing Makoto over Futaba. I still think about how perfectly the game captures the essence of Tokyo, and how much actually being in Tokyo reminded me of Persona 5. Persona 5 took us 112 hours to complete and my wife and I almost started a second playthrough on the spot. 2017 was shaped in its entirety by Persona 5: excitement leading up it its release, the month of it being everything, and then fond reminiscence for the rest of the year. If that doesn’t make it Game of the Year, I don’t know what does. Congratulations Persona 5, you are The Impact Factor’s 2017 Game of the Year!