Tom, screaming, with his fingers in his ears: PUBG! PUBG! I’m not listening to any other suggestions! PUBG! PUBG! 6. It’s going to be like that is it? Dan, what about you? Josh: So, what’s first on the GOTY shortlist? PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds – Tom’s GOTYĮxtract of the transcript of the GOTY discussion meeting at Thumbsticks HQ:
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But the game itself is a delightful mix of challenge and charm, and a surprisingly worthy vessel for a non-Nintendo-developed Mario game.Īdvertisement 5. It sounds like the worst idea from the hall of fame of bad ideas. The elevator pitch for this one is basically, “What if you mashed up Mario with X-Com, and put in those horrible Rabbids French Minions that Ubisoft insist everyone loves?” and that sounds truly awful. We doubt that, even in their wildest dreams, Ubisoft thought Mario vs Rabbids: Kingdom Battle would be as well-received as it has been. You might have been expecting to see a game with ‘Mario’ in the title on our game of the year list for 2017, but nobody was expecting it to be this one. It’s made by a team who not only love, but understand the original series.
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Hung heavy with dramatic irony and wearing literary influences on its sleeve, Before the Storm is a triumph of game writing. The story of Chloe’s relationship with star pupil and mysterious Svengali Rachel Amber is one that leverages our knowledge of characters and events to rapturous effect. Developer Deck Nine crafted a wonderful prequel trilogy to 2015’s Life is Strange and, stunningly, made a better game than the original series. A new developer, a different voice actress, a mysterious character surely best left alone: there was so much to trip over. Rarely does it feel this good to be wrong.
#GAMESPOT BEST VIDEO GAMES 2017 SERIES#
To get a real flavour of why Breath of the Wild is such a triumph, you need look no further than Dan’s write-ups of Nintendo’s GDC talks on the game – on breaking series conventions, on the clever little lies behind its mechanics, and on the design of its very green and pleasant land – earlier this year. The result is one of the most varied and intricate worlds ever created, but one that also acts as a blank canvas for unique adventures to be authored by its explorers. It’s closest antecedent is perhaps the NES original, but it also liberally borrows – with dignity and considerable style – from the more recent works of Rockstar, Bethesda and Ubisoft. Underpinned by what director Hidemaro Fujibayashi terms a ‘chemistry engine’ it’s a game that rewards experimentation, curiosity, desire, and endeavour. To those who thought Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword were too restrictive, too guided, Breath of the Wild is the ultimate riposte. It’s the tale of stumbling into a Stalnox den on a stormy night, it’s the tale of helping two truffle pickers in a moment of peril, it’s the tale of a bird chorus reunited to sing together again. The Legend of Zelda Breath of Wild’s story is as familiar as it is slight, but the real tale is not what you see in the game’s cut-scenes, it’s the tapestry of memories weaved from your experiences. To misquote Ezio Auditore, “What is an elf but the sum of his memories? We are the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!”
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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Dan’s GOTY Check out Josh’s thoughts on why Aloy’s adventure is so special, and deserves to be on this list, in a year so crowded with fantastic games. And Horizon Zero Dawn? That really stands out.