Glory to Mankind: A Look Back at the First Half of 2017

To say that the first half of 2017 has been one of the best in video game history would be completely underselling how good the past 6 months have actually been.  From sequels to new IP’s and even the launch of a new system, 2017 has provided us with more quality games than we can possibly play and that is a good problem to have.

The new year came in with a bang starting in January, a month where we usually see games go to die.

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard was the first triple A title released this year and it did not disappoint. Changing to a first person perspective and completely abandoning the action packed ways of the previous few titles, Resident Evil brought back many of their old fans and gained new fans at the same time. As a bonus, PS4 players can play the entire game in VR. What a game changer. The scares are multiplied in VR and you can fully immerse yourself in that world. Ask anyone that ran into grandma in her wheelchair while using the VR headset and they will tell you what real terror is.

February took it to the next level with the release of Horizon Zero Dawn. From the second the game loads it is clear that this is the new standard for how gorgeous a game can look in 2017. Every detail jumps off the screen in a way few games have ever done. At times I found myself abandoning the story to just wander the world and look at its beauty.  Once you dive into the game you are treated to almost flawless mechanics and a story that keeps you hooked until the end. I wasn’t sure how much I would care about Aloy’s story at first, but with each chapter I finished I fell more and more in love with her and her post apocalyptic world. A world now over run with machines and haunted by the past decisions of her ancestors. Horizon is by far one of the highlights of not only this year, but this console generation.

Shortly after Horizon Zero Dawn a new day began for Nintendo with the release of their new system, the Switch.

The launch of the Switch took the industry by storm. Nintendo’s hybrid console was finally on the market and  nobody could have predicted the success the Switch would see in year one. Based on the recent failure of the Wii U there was plenty of skepticism surrounding the launch.  While the system is a success in its own right having a killer title on day one did not hurt the big N at all. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild did something we haven’t seen since the Nintendo 64. This game became to the Switch what Mario 64 was to the Nintendo 64. Nintendo completely restructured what it means to be a Zelda game. The new open world structure has never been seen to this degree in any game. In Breath of the Wild you can climb any surface and go anywhere your eyes can see. Creating a huge world where anything is possible. Play Breath of the Wild and then try to return to an earlier open world game and you will immediately feel like something is missing. Gaining 10/10 reviews nearly across the board, Zelda set a standard for the Switch and proved that you could take a console quality experience on the go.

The Switch didn’t launch with a ton of games, however they were all good in their own way. 1-2 Switch and Snipperclips are incredibly fun party games that people of all ages can enjoy together. The Switch also launched with the premier of  Shovel Knight Specter of Torment. This took the already popular franchise to new heights making the Switch version the best place to play the Shovel Knight series with the entire Treasure Trove collection. The month could have ended there and we would have been happy, but it was just warming up.

“What is it that separates machines from androids like us?  The Machines have grown emotions….consciousness.  The final screams they summoned on the edge of their death… They still echo within me.”

These are the questions and themes that Nier: Automata presented us with in the sleeper hit of the year. Nier shocked us to the core at not only it’s beautiful graphics, extremely varied gameplay and tight controls – Nier also shocked us at how deep the storytelling was and for a game about machines and androids Nier presented more questions and answers about what it truly means to be human than any game I’ve played so far in my life.  Once the credits role and you’ve completed the game, you start to see how truly special Nier is. With four playthroughs and 26 different endings make sure you don’t stop playing when you see those credits for the first time.  Nier Automata should be played, enjoyed and revered by anyone who owns a Playstation 4.

The month of April would continue the trend of releasing Game of the Year candidates when Atlus released a little game called Persona 5. Where do you even begin when talking about this game?  The art direction and soundtrack are obvious standouts. You will be humming along to the tune that plays after every battle for months to come. Even my wife was humming it throughout the day and she had no idea why. This game will take you probably 100 hours to complete, but you will love every single hour spent in this world.  When you’re not going through castles trying to steal treasure you will find yourself in school or building relationships with people in the way you would in your real life. You can spend time at the movies, going to dinner and even finding the right person to date. If you haven’t played Perosna 5 yet, I recommend starting your rehabilitation as soon as possible.

The Disney Afternoon Collection is a love letter to their fans.  This remastered collection features six games from the collaboration between Disney and Capcom.

•Ducktales

•Ducktales 2

•Talespin

•Darkwing Duck

•Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers

•Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers 2

These games look more beautiful than ever and the new rewind feature allows these punishing games to be played by gamers of all skill levels.

Closing out the first half of the year are two gems for Nintendo’s new console… Puyo Puyo Tetris and Arms.

Puyo Puyo Tetris takes both games and  shakes them up. The highlight of this package is the Swap mode where you go back and forth between Puyo Puyo and Tetris in a wild best of three tournament against your opponent. This game can test the strongest of relationships, I know it has tested my own a time or two.

Arms is a game that I had no intention of ever playing. When it was originally revealed it appeared generic and lifeless. The characters looked interesting, but the game seemed to offer little else.  After trying the “Test Punch” beta for a few rounds it was easy to see how much deeper this game was than it appeared on the surface. Not only were the controls sound and the gameplay fun, but the motion controls actually worked. Unlike most of the motion controls on the Wii these controls felt right. Arms could be to the fighting genre  what Overwatch was to the competitive FPS genre.

Noticeably absent from this list is the Xbox. Microsoft does not have a single exclusive on this list and only a handful of the games we have covered can be played on the Xbox at all. Compare that to all of the Sony and Nintendo exclusives and Microsoft is finding themselves in a pretty big hole this generation. With the upcoming release of the Xbox one X it is imperative that they start releasing some triple A system exclusives or the system will be DOA.

2017 has been incredible so far and we only find ourselves half way through it. So many great games have already been released that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed already, and we still have 6 months to go. I hope that you’re enjoying these games as much as I am and I can’t wait to see what the second half of the year has in store for us. With more Horizon, Uncharted, Star Wars Battlefront,  Mario Odyssey and even Microsoft getting into the picture with Crackdown 3, the rest of the year looks like it will continue to produce incredible experiences.  If the next six months are even half as good as the first six have been we are living through the best year of releases in video game history. What a time to be alive.