It’s here! Let’s wrap 2017 up and never think about it again. We can still remember the games… just maybe nothing else.
Author: Zach Davis
-
Here’s Every Game I Played in 2017
A whoooooooole bunch of stuff. Just like every other year. I’m glad I stumbled across a lot of the weird stuff that I did. Monolith, This Strange Realm of Mine, and Baba Is You are all clear standouts that I doubt many other people were able to try. I agree with the sentiment that 2017 was one of the best years for games ever, but mostly because of how high quality the best of them were, and not because so, so, so many good smaller games came out. If you check other Game of the Year lists this year, it feels like 90% of them come down to a solid 20 or so. We all knew just about everybody liked PUBG. Same for Zelda. For Mario. And those games were excellent, but I felt like we didn’t have as much standout weirdness this year that I’ve loved so much from years past. Yakuza and Nier were excellent and about as close as we got from what I played, but the indies I enjoyed felt like they mostly played it safe. Here’s to a weirder, more varied 2018.
Released in December 2017
What I’ve played:
Hiaper diapers – Win
The Lost Strawberries – HTML5, Win, Mac, Linux
Mushroom Delicieux – HTML5
I’ll Take You To Tomato Town – Win, Mac, Linux
Polyamorous Relationships – HTML5, Win
Vengeance – HTML5
Gorogoa – Win, Switch, iOS, Android
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – SwitchReleased in November 2017
What I’ve played:
Current Mood – HTML5
MOOP – Win
Flipflop Solitaire – iOS
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp – iOS, Android
Constellation – Win, Browser
Chasing Birds – Win, Mac
A Road that May Lead Nowhere – Win, Mac, LinuxReleased in October 2017
What I’ve played:
A Hat in Time – PS4, XBO, Win, Mac
The Norwood Suite – Win
The Evil Within 2 – PS4, XBO, Win
Universal Paperclips – Browser
The Jackbox Party Pack 4 – PS4, XBO, Switch, Win, Mac
Everything is going to be OK – Win, Mac
The Mummy Demastered – PS4, XBO, Switch, Win
Succubox – Browser
Super Mario Odyssey – Switch
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus – PS4, XBO, Win
Assassin’s Creed Origins – PS4, XBO, Win
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy – Win, Mac, iOSReleased in September 2017
What I’ve played:
Destiny 2 – PS4, XBO
worst guest – Win, Mac, Linux
Gunstructor – Win, Mac, Linux
The Tomatoes are OK – Win, Mac
Tokyo Dark – Win
The Guides Axiom – iOS, Android
Seed – Win
Metroid: Samus Returns – 3DS
Gloomy Room – Win, Mac
Devil Engine (Demo Day 16) – Win
vapormaze – Win
A Robot Named Fight! – Win, Mac
SteamWorld Dig 2 – Switch, Win, PS4, Vita
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony – PS4, Win, Vita
Cuphead – XBO, Win
Golf Story – Switch
Five Secrets – Browser
Hob – PS4, Win
Clayton’s Quest – Win
Doki Doki Literature Club – Win, MacReleased in August 2017
What I’ve played:
b00tl3g kr3w – Win
Tacoma – XBO, Win
The Long Dark – PS4, XBO, Win, Mac, Linux
No World Dreamers: Sticky Zeitgeist (Episode 1: Hyperslime) – Browser
Slime Rancher – Win, Mac, Linux
air mail – Win
City Lights – Win
Monster Hunter XX (JPN demo) – Switch
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – PS4, Win
West of Loathing – Win, Mac, Linux
URDL – HTML5
Nidhogg 2 – PS4, Win, Mac
Sonic Mania – PS4, Switch, XBO, Win
Pet the Pup at the Party – Win, Mac
Mazeglaser – Win
Like roots in the soil – Win, Mac
Cat Bird! – iOS, Android
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle – Switch
Darkwood – Win, Mac, Linux
Dead Horizon – Win, Mac, Linux
Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (Demo Version) – PS4, Vita, Win
Super Hazelnut Quest – Win
Tales of the Tiny Planet – iOS, PC, Mac
Fidel Dungeon Rescue – Win, MacReleased in July 2017
What I’ve played:
The End is Nigh – Win
Kirigami – Win
The Boxing – Win, Mac
The Lighthouse – Win, Mac
It is as if you were doing work – Browser
One week, My room – Win
Splatoon 2 – Switch
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator – Win, Mac
Bare Bones – Browser
RetroHOT – Win, Mac
The Evolution of Trust – Browser
Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles – PS4, Win
Kingsway – Win
Vostok Inc. – Win
Saturnalia – Win, Mac, Linux
HE BEAT HER. – Win, Mac, Linux
Manual Overload – Win, Mac, Linux
The Light City of Karola – Win, Mac
Pyre – PS4, Win, Mac, Linux
Dank Tomb – Win, Mac, Linux, HTML5
Stonewall Penitentiary (demo) – Win
This Strange Realm Of Mine – Win
Demon Peak – Win, LinuxReleased in June 2017
What I’ve played:
Monument Valley 2 – iOS
Bundle Kitt – Web, Win
ARMS – Switch
Monolith – Win
Sabre – Win
Pacific – Win, Mac
Ungrateful Birds – Win
Gone Wandering – Win, Mac
Drifting Lands – Win, Mac
DEATH SWORD – HTML5
Nex Machina – PS4, Win
Tormentor X Punisher – Win, MacReleased in May 2017
What I’ve played:
TumbleSeed – PS4, Switch, Win, Mac
Prey – PS4, XBO, Win
STRAFE – PS4, Win, Mac
Causeway – Win
Carrocalipse – Win
The Surge – PS4, XBO, Win
The Final Fantasy of Cloud Boy – Win
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump – iOS, Android
Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire – iOS, Android
Rime – PS4, XBO, Win
KOZMYK WURM – Win, Mac
Apology Simulator – Web
Injustice 2 – PS4, XBO
Tekken 7 – PS4, XBO, Win
OVIVO – Win, Mac
Dinner With An Owl – Win
Contemp – Win
Butterfly Soup – Win, Mac, Linux
Dead Cells – WinReleased in April 2017
What I’ve played:
Persona 5 – PS4, PS3
I’m Still Here – Win, Mac, Linux
Yooka-Laylee – PS4, XBO, Win, Mac, Linux
Flinthook – Win, Mac, Linux
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – Switch
What Remains of Edith Finch – PS4, Win
Little Nightmares – PS4, XBO, Win
Ghost Hospital – Win, Mac, Linux
Banana Boy – Win
Baba Is You – Win
Fairy Song – Win
Slime-san – Win, Mac, Linux, (Switch: Aug 03)Released in March 2017
What I’ve played:
1-2-Switch – Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Switch, WiiU
Snipperclips – Switch
Nier: Automata – PS4, Win
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment – Switch
Bit City – iOS, Android
TypeShift – iOS
Snake Pass – Switch, PS4, XBO, Win
Kamiko – Switch
Nyoom – Web
A Melon’s Tale – Win, Mac
Super Bomberman R – Switch
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS – Win
Has-Been Heroes – PS4, Switch, XBO, Win
Blaster Master Zero – Switch
Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King – Win, Switch
Everything – PS4, Win, Mac, LinuxReleased in February 2017
What I’ve played:
Can You Help Your Dad Lose His Virginity At The Super Bowl? – Web
Nioh – PS4
Tappy Cat – iOS, Android
Postknight – iOS, Android
Hidden Folks – iOS, Win, Mac, Linux
For Honor – PS4, XBO, Win
Talos Descent – Win
The Tower – Win, Mac, Linux
Horizon: Zero Dawn – PS4
Hollow Knight – Win, Mac, Linux
Night in the Woods – PS4, Win, Mac, Linux
Alwa’s Awakening – Win, Mac, LinuxReleased in January 2017
What I’ve played:
Hidden My Game By Mom 2 – iOS, Android
It’s 2:51A.M. Can You Fall Asleep? – Web
Jump Doper – Win, Mac, Linux, Android
DATING SIM – Win
ZZZ Train – Win, Mac
Yo! Let’s UP – Win, Mac
ARACHNAFOE – Win
Helping Hand – Win, Mac
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard – PS4, XBO, Win
You Live In 3500 B.C.! Can You Become The First Human To Ride A Horse? – Web
World of Horror – Win
Gravity Rush 2 – PS4
Yakuza 0 – PS4
Ninja Spinki Challenges!! – iOS, Android
HÄŌŠ – Win, Mac
Lost In The Deep Space – Win, Mac, Linux
Hell is other Demons (Alpha) – Win, Mac, Linux
Response – Win
Wave Run – Win, Mac -
Butterfly Soup is 2017’s Best Visual Novel
There were a whole bunch of good visual novels this year! But out of Dream Daddy, Doki Doki Literature Club, Danganronpa 3, Tokyo Dark, etc., Butterfly Soup is the one I wish I had played as soon as it released. Not only is it my favorite of the aforementioned onslaught of 2017’s VNs, it’s one of the funniest and most genuinely sweet games of the year. Imagine Night in the Woods with more gays and fewer cats.
If you’re not hooked after the first five minutes of Butterfly Soup… I just don’t think this thing’s for you. The goofiest of its humor is front-loaded into the introductory scenes, and I was laughing out loud harder than I had at a game since Yakuza 0.
Not content with being just one of 2017’s funniest games, it decides to take the crown for being one of the most progressive as well; the game’s main cast is 90% queer women of color. It’s great! As a straight white dude, I was offered a unique perspective that I would rarely be afforded the opportunity to see otherwise. I 100% recommend it to anyone whose ever had a passing interest in visual novels, teen drama, or laughing. So go play it.
If you’re up for chuckling along with a wonderful group of high schoolers, check out Butterfly Soup for free on its itch.io page.
(Min-seo is maybe the best new character of 2017. She just rules.)
-
Try, Fail, Repeat in Getting Over It
I’m back! I realize the site’s been on probably the longest hiatus in years, but I’m back! I’ve been away having some comfort food gaming during a stressful season of getting back into the swing of things after the car accident. I played every 3D Mario game under the guise of maybe revisiting them for a future column (we’ll see!), and played around with a bunch of other old stuff… oh, and start sinking my life into Breath of the Wild again. That game’s super cool, right?
I’m diving back into the indie scene today with a game I’m glad I found sooner rather than later. Getting Over It is Bennett Foddy’s best work yet.
-
Games of the Month – October 2017
I spent the last month playing every Mario game in preparation for Mario Odyssey (and an upcoming piece on the series as a whole!), and still ending up spending around 30 hours with Odyssey after its release. And I’m still going. This month was always going to be a fight for who’s in second place.
As for the struggle for second, hey October, you put up a pretty good fight! We had a packed month with indie games and AAA both bringing out their best. As I continue to try to finish October’s… and September’s releases (and I still haven’t finished RE7, oops) let’s see what stood out among the crowd. And hey, November, feel free to slow it down a bit if you feel like it. I promise I won’t mind.
1. Super Mario Odyssey
A game I still have a handful of issues with (shallow post game, devaluing the collectibles, etc.) but also one that I haven’t been able to put down over the last couple weeks. It’s a shining example of how Nintendo still has it, and how they’re cool with taking risks on a beloved franchise. Imaginative as ever, I’m glad to see my favorite development team in the business hasn’t lost an ounce of creativity over the years. It doesn’t take too hard of a look to see Breath of the Wild’s DNA cropping up in Odyssey, but the freeform exploration and massive amount of challenges fit Mario pretty well. I wish there were more areas with tough platforming challenges and linear design like 3D World and Galaxy 2, but for what’s essentially an open world Mario game, it’s almost as good as anyone could ask for. Almost.
2. The Evil Within 2
I’ve barely scratched the surface with this one, but if the opening hours are anything to go by, I’ll be loving my playthrough of this just as much as I did with the first. The open world elements don’t take away from the perfectly scripted sequences, and sometimes it even elevates them. When you’re exploring a random house and your eyes meet a body in the corner and it’s instantly dragged away… you know you’ve stumbled into more than you bargained for. I just wanted some loot, okay! Scary as ever, The Evil Within 2 is vying for my horror game of the year already.
3. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
It didn’t leave as much of an impact on me as the first one did. I know, that sucks! But it’s hard to compete with one of the best first-person shooters ever made, especially when you’re the sequel in direct comparison to it. While The New Colossus is a wild ride with a perfectly satisfying story, it never hits the highs of its predecessor. The scenes with BJ’s father come close, and that final scene is rad as hell, (except for the godawful credits song…I mean, how did they let that happen?) but The New Order was an incredible surprise that’s near impossible to replicate. This one’s still very good, though.
Honorable Mentions:
The Norwood Suite – I liked Off-Peak more, but if you want more surreal Cosmo D exploration, this one’s still a treat.
Universal Paperclips – The first half is one of the best clickers I’ve ever played, the second is not. Give this one 30 minutes and see it for yourself.
The Mummy Demastered – A well-done Metroidvania from a team who has proved that they know how this genre ticks.
The Jackbox Party Pack 4 – More Fibbage is always good, as is the new mode where you make your friends write the questions. Civic Doodle is one of my favorite drawing games they’ve done. Survive the Internet is pretty good. Bracketeering is silly and fun and I think I’m the only one who kind of likes it. Monster Seeking Monster is a cool idea and aesthetic that was somehow made into the least fun game imaginable, mainly due to its length.
-
Getting Spooky in 2017
I’m listening to the Monster Mash while I write this, so you have to go find some spooky music, too. I’ll wait.
Okay hi. Boo! Gotcha. Boo again but it’s invisible. Oooohhh.
For the newcomers: Hey there. Let’s get spooky. If you aren’t satisfyingly spooked by the end of this, scoot on back up and check out these links to previous Getting Spooky posts.
These first two are archived from a friend’s site I used to write for, so maybe skip these if you’re not into some wonky formatting from Wayback Machine’s retrieval process:
Getting Spooky in 2014 (Part 3)
Getting Spooky in 2014 (Part 4)And these are the more recent, better ones:
Getting Spooky in 2015
Getting Spooky in 2016All caught up with the lore of the Spookiverse? Cool. Let’s do this.
https://twitter.com/spookymoonkitty/status/917882397533773824
So about three minutes ago I was Googling around trying to find that video you just watched by typing in “skeleton dance” and found this on accident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGRVmzUcvEg
uh. Just kinda skip around the first 30 minutes of that video for some treats. The haunted ABCs nightmare song with the girl’s possessed friend was a highlight. Oh yeah it’s 45 minutes long bye.
~Spooky Thought 0129: That feeling when it’s 4:09pm the day before Halloween and you haven’t gone out to look for a costume yet. Spooky.~
Oh you want an actual Spooky recommendation? I got you.
Have you ever wanted to feel genuinely unsettled for, oh, let’s say, 100 minutes? The Invitation is a true slow burn, and you’ll be coming up with your own theories about what’s happening long before it decides to offer any answers. Believe me when I say it’s worth the wait.
And while we’re on the topic: Have you ever seen the video of Bobby Pickett lip-syncing Monster Mash? Go watch it, it’s wild. Tell them Boris sent you.
Alright, I can’t look away from the faces. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen him do this until 2017.
Junji Ito rules and I had nightmares the first time I read anything by him.
If you’ve never read anything by Japan’s horror manga master you should do yourself the favor. Feel free to jump in anywhere, but my starting point was The Hanging Balloons. Have fun sleeping!
~Spooky Thought 0088: Here’s a fun game. Hit up this Wikipedia page and watch Halloween episodes of shows you’ve never heard of before. It’s fun! At least, theoretically, it is. I haven’t done it yet. Get back to me and tell me if that was a fun game please.~
2017 has been a good year for horror games!
First up, if you haven’t checked out The Bathroom demo (or now, Gloomy Room) go do that.
I’ve written about it before but here’s the TLDR:
- Use a translator app on your phone for the Japanese text
- Hang around in the opening room for a while
- Cry
Next up is Resident Evil 7, which, when played in VR, is the most exhausting horror experience I’ve had with any piece of media.
If you’re not down with possibly literally dying of fright and you want to play as far away from the screen as possible, that’s fine too. I still haven’t finished it because I’m a tiny baby but it’s great and I’ll push my way through before the year’s end.
The Evil Within 2 is cool! I know I’m in a very small camp in thinking that the original Evil Within is a kind of flawed horror classic, but people seem to be liking the second one a bit more. Good!
I’m still in the early chapters, and even though there’s some open-worldiness in this one, the sequel still plays like a tightly scripted action horror game. I stand by saying that The Evil Within is the first game that felt like a true sequel to Resident Evil 4. Hopefully this one lives up to that standard.
Just, uh, don’t pay any attention to the story. It’s utter nonsense. The first one SPOILER ended with you in the back of a truck flying around in a tornado while you mount a turret and shoot a zombie brain monster. This one is somehow dumber.
I listen to a bunch of podcasts. Some of them happen to be spooky.
What if non-SCP creepypasta was good? Ta da!
These are short 20ish minute audio dramas, framed as documented interviews about strange events. A dude reads scary stories for a half-hour, basically. Ever wished The Twilight Zone was an anthology podcast? Your dreams have come true. It creeps slowly into a more interconnected storyline the further you get, but the one-off episodes remain consistently excellent throughout. Some of my favorites are Episode 2: Do Not Open, Episode 10: Vampire Killer, and Episode 34: Anatomy Class. If you aren’t hooked after though… maybe you just don’t like good horror?
This picture rules
that’s all it just rules
the skeletons are saying hello
Speaking of SCP, please read this if you haven’t.
“Single frame from iteration 1733-007.” One of my favorite short horror stories ever written.
Aaaaaand I guess that’s it? Today’s Halloween and I love it so much but it’s more for me about the general vibe of October it brings than the holiday itself. The 31st is still pretty sweet though. Time for me to put on another weirdly specific costume that I have to explain to everyone who hasn’t made it to New Donk City in Mario Odyssey. Check you guys next year for another one of these.
Boo-bye.
hippochippies 