Editorial: A Skyrim Situation

A Skyrim Situation

          Remakes and remasters are extremely popular these days, and for good reason. Fans of older games love to see them brought onboard to new generations of consoles, especially if they’re from the days before HD gaming and they get a graphical upgrade. But sometimes you stumble upon one of those games brought into the current generation that really should’ve stayed back in its original form, instead using a sequel to bring the franchise to a new console.

          Today we’ll be talking about the Nintendo Switch version of Skyrim and how it’s time for Bethesda to let the poor game die in peace.

          There’s no denying that Skyrim is one of, if not the most influential game released in the 2010’s. The granddaddy of the modern open-world adventure games, modern favourites like The Witcher 3, Horizon Zero Dawn and Zelda: Breath of the Wild have Skyrim to thank for paving the way for the genre back in 2011. Bethesda received several well-deserved awards for the game, as well as world recognition as the company behind one of the greatest games ever made at the time.

          Yes, it’s no secret Bethesda loves their baby, and I can’t blame them for that. As such it came as a surprise to no one that the game was ported to PS4 and Xbox One in 2016 as Skyrim: Special Edition. The remaster promised a graphical upgrade to the game, several new shaders to play around with, all DLC packs included, and mod support on certain consoles. With no new Elder Scrolls game in sight anytime soon, fans were hoping that the Special Edition would be the definitive version of Skyrim with many of the game’s infamous bugs scrubbed out.

          Unfortunately, this isn’t what turned out. While at its core the Special Edition is the same game fans fell in love with in 2011, that’s also the remaster’s biggest problem: it’s the same game, just with a bit of a graphical upgrade for the new generation so it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb alongside other modern day games. Many of the plentiful bugs that ran amuck when the game first released were still there years later, since apparently no one at Bethesda bothered to fix them.

          Like I mentioned earlier, Skyrim is responsible for the inspiration behind several amazing modern open world adventure games. But the big problem here is that it’s impossible not to compare the game with the ones that took what it did and went beyond that. Skyrim feels antiquated these days when compared to Horizon, like a last-generation phone that a company is inexplicably trying to push as competition to the new stuff. Instead of being fondly remembered as a champion that lit the torch for the hugely popular genre, the game now looks instead like one behind the times, so caught up in how great it was in its glory days that it hasn’t noticed gaming has moved onto bigger and better things in the genre.

          The big question for me is…where the heck is Elder Scrolls VI? If Bethesda could make Skyrim one of the most beloved open world games ever back when there was really nothing else like it, imagine what they could do when asked to make a new game from the same franchise using the same technology backing the big name games from the past few years! I have no doubt that franchise fans would be all over that, and it’d be great to have a new game set the bar for what the genre can do.

          And then Bethesda will surely port it to every system ever over the next few years like they did with Skyrim, but I digress.

          To paraphrase Luke Skywalker, it’s time for Skyrim to end. The remaster felt pretty lazy, especially when most of the bugs people complained about way back in 2011 inexplicably stuck around. The game itself feels archaic and dated when compared to the currently-releasing genre darlings, and considering that the remaster of a 2011 game costs the same as a brand new copy of 2017’s Breath of the Wild on Nintendo Switch, comparing it to modern stuff is inevitable. It’s unsurprising to me that Bethesda still loves the game that propelled them into worldwide recognition, but they need to move on. Just like how Skyrim was the sequel to the equally beloved Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls franchise needs to move on to a sixth installment to stay in people’s minds as a series that’s up to date and not resting on the laurels of the past.

Song of the Week

Main Theme – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D Review: “Fun and Games”

Here comes the bride

(This review contains spoilers!)

          After the fun Earth-bound trip from two weeks ago, this week S.H.I.E.L.D returned to the Kree space station with Fitz along for the ride. I get the feeling we’re nearing the end of this arc and will be moving onto something new before too long if the showrunners decided to continue with the pod-style format that worked wonders for them in Season 4.

          This episode was directed by Clark Gregg, who plays Coulson on the show and in several Phase 1 MCU movies. If memory serves me right this is the first time a cast member has directed an episode of S.H.I.E.L.D, and he did a great job of it. This was one of the most exciting and action packed episodes of the show ever, with new twists, turns and surprises around every corner.

          Fitz is now posing as a wealthy mercenary planning on buying Daisy from Kasius, also rescuing Simmons as part of the package deal. Things quickly go haywire though, as it turns out May has also been entered in the big Inhuman deathbowl, and Kasius’s hipster brother is on his way with eyes on the Destroyer of Worlds for himself.

          Meanwhile, Team Coulson have rescued a teen who just earned his Inhuman powers from competing in the games, but are being held captive by their boss who plans to give them all over to Kasius. All in all, not the best day for the gang.

          If there’s one thing this episode does great, it’s the fight choreography. I’ve always said that S.H.I.E.L.D has some of the best fights on TV, and this episode was no different. Even better was that the camera actually stayed steady during the action this time, instead of how the show sometimes makes the camera zoom all over the place during the action and you end up seeing nothing. The showdown between Daisy and Sinara was one of the best parts of the season thus far, and it’s all because we got to see it from a stable perspective.

          This episode also pulled no punches when it came to surprising the audience. Starting off with a marriage proposal from Fitz despite not knowing Simmons couldn’t hear him left my whole room screaming in agony, and it just got crazier from there. Supporting characters were dropping like flies, from the mind reading Inhuman to the boss of Team Coulson to even Tess. The stakes are getting much higher for our team, but now that they’re almost all back together it’s probably nearing time for them to leave.

          While them being officially engaged now is a wonderful surprise for longtime fans of the show, knowing this show makes me really worried. S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t beyond killing off main characters (Trip, Ward, Lincoln), and Clark Gregg has gone on record that the 100th episode coming in March will shock longtime fans, so I really hope that doesn’t mean one of them is gonna die on their wedding day.

          This was an awesome episode. I barely scratched the surface talking about all the stuff in it, including Fitz’s awesome manipulation of Kasius and May’s fight against the mind reader guy. Clark Gregg really knows how to make an episode insanely exciting and constantly surprising while still furthering the plot. How about we get him to do another one before the season’s over?

FINAL SCORE

9/10

Amazing

Okami HD Review

Hungry like the wolf

(This review contains spoilers!)

          The best way to gauge a game’s lasting appeal is with remakes and remasters, especially if you’ve never played it before. While many have favourite games they love to revisit over and over and over again, it’s always interesting to be a newcomer to said games when they are given a graphical upgrade or a full rehaul for a new release.

          This is what happened to me when playing Okami HD. I’ve had my eye on this game for a while now, despite never playing it. The ancient Japanese-inspired art style and ability to use paint to use special abilities and attacks really appealed to me, but for whatever reason I never got around to playing it until I spied this PS4 rerelease on a list of upcoming games. I finally checked it out, and overall I think this is one of the rare remasters that still plays just as well as it must’ve when it released despite being over a decade old.

          The game stars Amaterasu, a wolf deity responsible for sealing away a demonic being of pure destruction 100 years ago. Now the monster is back, and you have to cross the land of Nippon alongside your diminutive friend Issun to set things right. That’s the extent of the story, really. Similar in vein to a Zelda game your only real job is to save the world and protect the gang of wacky characters you meet on your journey. It doesn’t need to be complicated by any means, and it doesn’t try to. It’s a silly and fun story about a wolf saving Japan, and it’s great because of that.

          Speaking of Zelda, it’s clear where Capcom’s inspirations for Okami came from. Ignoring some of the more blatant similarities to Twilight Princess (technically Okami released a few months before that game, but both feature a silent wolf protagonist with a sassy sidekick with one of the main objectives being removing dark spots from the world so you can traverse them normally), this game is very similar to the classic 3D Zeldas from the days of the N64 and Gamecube. Both feature small but fun overworlds separated into areas, lots of different abilities and items you can use to defeat baddies, and a lot of clever dialogue to read through. If you’re looking for a game that feels like Ocarina of Time, this is the one for you.

          One of the standout parts of the game is the art style. Clearly taking inspiration from ancient Japanese art like The Great Wave, Okami is drenched in delightful pinks, blues and greens with thick ink lines wrapped around everything. The cel-shaded designs look great on PS4, even if it does become obvious at times that some objects are just flat cutouts that spin to face the camera. The animations on the animal characters are particularly entertaining, as a lot of the game’s physical humour lies with them. Amaterasu is especially great, as her lazy dog-like mannerisms add a lot of comic relief to the cutscenes that can occasionally go on for just a bit too long.

          The gameplay has that great adventure game feel, especially in the more explorative parts where you can just run around and do your own thing. The true star of the show is the drawing mechanic. Over the course of the game you learn various abilities that allow you to paint symbols to do various things, ranging from controlling elements like water, fire and wind to creating fireworks out of thin air to open up secret rooms. While I did find the game at times to be a little too picky when it comes to deciding whether or not you drew the correct shape (more complex shapes are especially finicky), I loved this mechanic overall. It’s incredibly satisfying to finish off stunned enemies with a paintbrush stroke, and restoring the dead nature strayed across the world with the power of art is a small joy that never stops being fun.

          I did find the pacing to be pretty wonky throughout, unfortunately. There’s a point in the game where you have to find a group of 5 missing dogs hidden around town in order to help break a mysterious seal. When you reunite the dogs, you’re informed that there’s still 3 missing, and you have to backtrack all the way through the entire map you’ve explored until that point to track them all down and progress through the game. It kills the momentum extremely fast, and it’s a long, long, loooong walk around the world trying to track down the missing 3 dogs just so you can enter the next dungeon.

          Perhaps even more bizarre is the halfway point of the game. You finally face off with the villain the story has been building up as the ultimate evil, and defeat him in combat with the help of a prominent side character who ends their arc in this battle. When the boss fight ends, everyone celebrates and it looks like the game is over…but no, it just keeps on going. There’s still a huge chunk of game left, and while I’m not complaining about more to do in this great game, it did feel a little weird to take down the game’s final boss only for it to tell you that “Oh, he’s still out there, you just gotta go kill him for good next time”. It definitely seemed like Capcom told the devs they needed to extend the length of the game after the battle, but instead of moving the climactic fight to the end of the game they just made a second half after it.

          I don’t think Okami HD is a game that absolutely everyone would enjoy playing, but if you’ve never played it before and is looking for something that’d remind you of the adventure games from the early 2000’s, this’ll be right up your alley. The Japanese-inspired graphics look great to this day, the drawing mechanic works great and they have a lot of fun coming up with a bunch of unique ways to use it, and there’s plenty of game here for you to sink your teeth into, even if the pacing does feel a bit disjointed at times. As someone who never played this game until this release, I can safely say that Okami made me howl with laughter and joy.

FINAL SCORE

8/10

Great

Star Wars Wednesday: Guardians of the Whills

Guardians of the Whills

          Who’s your favourite character from Rogue One? Is it main character Jyn Erso? Or do you prefer the snarky wit of K-2SO? Or do you go for the easy cop-out answer and pick Darth Vader?

          Despite this, the answer I’ve seen the most online is “the blind guy and his friend”, otherwise known as Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus. These two mysterious Force warriors serve as the heart and soul of the movie, as their friendship leads to a lot of charming, funny and even heartfelt interaction between them. But no matter where I go, I always see them referred to as “the blind guy and his friend”. Granted, Chirrut and Baze aren’t the easiest names to remember, but you’d think such popular characters would become more recognized.

          Well, if you ever wanted to learn more about these two ancient warriors, there’s a book for that.

          Released in May 2017, Guardians of the Whills came out with little fanfare or attention from the core Star Wars fanbase. It didn’t help that it was released on the same day as the Jyn-focused novel Rebel Rising, as well as the fact that Whills wasn’t particularly long, making it appear more akin to a pre-teen novel than a real Star Wars book. But having read both Guardians of the Whills and Rebel Rising to completion, I can safely say that I found the former book to be a much more enjoyable time, and even makes Chirrut and Baze’s story in Rogue One deeper and far more tragic.

          Set prior to the events of Rogue One (but that shouldn’t come as a surprise considering who the main characters are), the Empire has an iron grip on Jedha, but Chirrut and Baze are trying their hardest to keep the peace and charm the planet had in the days of the Republic alive. They spend their time trying to improve the life of the kids at the local orphanage, hanging out with local mechanics and vendors, and of course fending off the Stormtroopers whenever necessary. But when Baze is visited by Saw Gererra and offered a way to save the orphans, the two of them have to decide whether they want to trust the most dangerous man on the planet for the sake of the children they care about.

          Let me just get this out of the way first: if you’re looking for a massive canon book with a lot to say about the Force, spirituality and other deep topics, Guardians of the Whills is not it. It’s just a fun adventure starring two characters from Rogue One with a lot of great action and some strong morals for kids. If you want a deep and thought provoking canon book, I’d recommend giving Thrawn a try instead.

          If you’re still interested, I’d definitely recommend giving this book a try. It’s really a fun adventure that can be a real page turner at times. If you know a kid who’s a fan of Rogue One, they’ll adore Guardians of the Whills.

          But for me the best part of the book is what happens after you’ve finished reading it. Guardians of the Whills tries it’s hardest to make Jedha City feel like a real place, with lots of great side characters that befriend Chirrut and Baze and play key parts in the climax. And then Rogue One happens and the entire city is blown to smithereens with everyone inside. That short conversation Chirrut and Baze have afterwards where Chirrut makes him say what happened and his subsequent reaction hits a lot harder after reading this book.

          While Guardians of the Whills isn’t gonna change the way you look at the Expanded Universe anytime soon, having read it makes Chirrut and Baze’s story in Rogue One even better. It also helps that it’s an entertaining adventure to go on, and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome by any means. If you’re looking for a good Star Wars book that won’t take up too much of your time and stars characters from the movies, this one will be right up your alley.

CanadianYeti Reviews Winter Update 2018

          

          The New Year has finally arrived, and it’s freezing cold outside! So I thought now would be the perfect time to introduce some of the new stuff I’m planning on doing, as well as series will and won’t be returning. Here we go!

What’s staying the same?

Monday editorials will be continuing as normal. I’m pretty excited about next week, as I’ll be talking about remasters and whether certain games deserve them or not.

Game reviews will also be normal. I’m hoping there’ll be lots of releases in Q1 this year so we can get started on 2018’s games quickly, but for now my final game review for 2017 will be out sometime this week, and it’s going to be on Okami HD.

Movie reviews are still going to be around, but as always I don’t know how many I’m going to do. I don’t go out to see too many movies unless they’re ones I’m particularly excited about. However, I can guarantee a review for Black Panther sometime during opening weekend (ideally on the Friday morning).

TV reviews:

Timeless and The Orville reviews will be remaining on hiatus until their shows return.

Star Wars Rebels reviews will also remain on hiatus, but if memory serves me right I think the show will be coming back soonish, so hopefully it won’t be long.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D reviews will continue as usual.

Chill Chat is also staying, and I’d like to take more advantage of this series in the New Year. I’ve only really used it a few times before now to talk about Survivor and Rick and Morty, and I’d really like to use it for more potential than just talking about shows that I don’t review.

          That being said, right now I can guarantee you two things: a full discussion of Stranger Things once I’ve finished making my way through the show (I’m almost done!), and three separate articles on Survivor: Ghost Island.

Star Wars Wednesday has officially been around for a year! It’s not stopping anytime soon, but I’d like to see this as a sort of Season 2 for the series. This year I have a lot of great stuff planned, including sequels to some of my favourite articles from last year, a visit to some of the weirder things that have come out of the franchise, and a huge month planned for later on in the year based on one of the most beloved things in all of Star Wars that I’ve barely even touched so far. So strap on your X-Wing pilot helmet and prepare yourself for Star Wars Wednesday Season 2: Wednesday Strikes Back! First episode comes out tomorrow, as we return to the world of Rogue One to talk about an awesome book from last year that flew pretty under the radar.

What’s changing?

Steven Universe reviews have been cancelled as I talked about previously in its own article due to me losing interest in the subject matter. The fact that I haven’t touched the few episodes that released recently should speak for itself, but I just can’t bring myself to get excited for a show that barely releases episodes, and when it does they’re usually boring and tedious to get through. Maybe someday I’ll return to the series in a Chill Chat, but for now I’m taking a break.

Anime reviews: This wasn’t an easy decision. I thought long and hard about the future of anime reviews after I couldn’t continue talking about Girls’ Last Tour these last few months because of how boring and repetitive reviewing the show had become. The anime itself was great, but it didn’t really lend itself to discussion.

          While reviewing anime was one of my favourite things to do back when I started this blog, since then it’s easily become my absolute least favourite part of it. They rarely get any views as they’re the one series I don’t tweet out, and they started to feel more like filler content to me because nobody read them. Anime also stopped being fun to watch and started feeling more like a job I had to do to write the article.

          So, because of all these reasons, I’m ending anime reviews on the blog.

          Again, if there’s a show I really want to talk about I have Chill Chat for that. I’m also not afraid to return to reviewing anime every once in a while if there’s a show I particularly would like to talk about every week. But for now I just need a break, as I stopped finding it fun in the same way I still love reviewing TV.

What’s new?

Behind the Screens: 12 things you never knew about…: This is a series I’ve been thinking about for a while now, and I’m really excited to finally release it.

          Behind the Screens is a pretty simple concept: I take a movie, game, TV show, anime, or whatever else and talk about 12 cool behind the scenes facts about the movie, whether they’re a crazy story from the set, a funny mistake, or just something that I find interesting. Right now I’m aiming at having these be a monthly series released on a Wednesday that doesn’t have a Star Wars article (probably the third week of the month), and the first one will release January 24 and it’ll be about Lord of the Rings.

          As always, thank you for reading my blog. I’d really like 2018 to be the best year possible for it, and I’d also like to try and take some of these series to a major website sometime this year. I love writing stuff for you guys, and I’m just glad you enjoy reading them.

Editorial: Games I’m interested in for 2018

Games I’m interested in for 2018

          Happy New Year!

          It’s finally 2018, and that means a slew of new games on the horizon. I always find it interesting how barren gaming calendars are at the start of the year. Since the nature of game development doesn’t give much room for assumption of when the games will be finished, most of them don’t have final dates or are even announced when the year begins.

          But similar to what I did last year, I’ll be picking out a few specific games and talking about why I’m interested in them for the upcoming year. My one rule is that the games have to be confirmed to be releasing in 2018, so no games without release dates yet. Also, unlike last year I won’t be doing this in a Top 10 format, I’ll just be putting them in alphabetically. So, here we go!

Detroit: Become Human

          This one I’m more cautiously interested about. This is yet another game helmed by David Cage’s team at Quantic Dream, the people responsible for Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls among others. Cage loves to boast about how deep and thought-provoking his stories are and how he’s the only one in video games who can tackle current events because everyone else is too scared.

          In reality the general public knows him as the guy who accidentally turned the name Jason into a meme thanks to the opening of Heavy Rain, but it’s nice he has such a high opinion of himself.

          Anyways, Detroit: Become Human has a very cool concept. Being similar to a choose-your-own adventure book, you act as the lead role in several stories starring humanoid robots. Your actions in the story will dictate how it plays out, with several different endings.

          This could definitely be a classic case of the trailers not representing the actual game, but for now this is a really interesting concept I’d like to see succeed.

Fe

          This game looks just plain beautiful. Similar in design to Ori and the Blind Forest, Fe sees you playing as a little lemur looking thing as you explore the world and try to drive forces of evil out of your forest.

          I really hope this isn’t another game that sells itself on looks alone and has nothing to show for it beneath the surface. The art style is simply captivating, and I’ve heard the soundtrack is going to be phenomenal. Here’s hoping!

God of War

          I’ve still never played the original God of War games, but this soft reboot of the franchise looks to be right up my alley. Set in a Norse mythology inspired world, this game looks like it focuses on Kratos from the original games bonding with his kid. And by bonding I mean killing frost giants with your bare hands while your boy cheers you on. Sounds fun to me.

          The combat in this game looks awesome. Kratos’ axe can be used similarly to Thor’s hammer, as he can throw it around, use it to kill enemies, and it’ll fly right back into his hand. Here’s hoping Led Zeppelin plays during a combat sequence at least once.

Kingdom Hearts III

          Kingdom Hearts is such a weird franchise for me. I love exploring all the Disney worlds in the games, but I couldn’t care less about anything else. The main characters, Keyblade stuff, the weird convoluted plot with all the side characters are all fine, but I’m really just in it for all the crazy Disney stuff we’re gonna get to see.

          This time around they’re adding worlds from Pixar movies and potentially other franchises such as Star Wars, making for a much more diverse array of worlds to visit. Considering this has been one of the most anticipated games in recent years (and it’s the first Kingdom Hearts game in a long time to not have a terrible subtitle), I hope longtime fans are finally rewarded for their patience this year.

Red Dead Redemption 2

          This game was supposed to come out last year, and as such it was on the version of this list I did last year. I still haven’t checked out the original Red Dead Redemption, but this sequel looks to be worth my time for the graphics alone.

          Rockstar is known for cramming as much stuff as possible into their games, so the idea of a new game by them on the scale of Witcher 3 or Horizon Zero Dawn is very exciting. A massive wild west with a ton of sidequests, secrets, adventures and landmarks? Yes, please.

Skull and Bones

          We haven’t seen too much of Ubisoft’s upcoming pirate game, but I’m already intrigued if only because of how much I love pirates. Skull and Bones looks like it’s going to be a nautical version of zeppelin battle game Guns of Icarus, as you and your hearty crew take on other ships and sink them to Davy Jones’ Locker.

          Although Ubisoft has had a very good year, they’re still not off the hook as one of the most notorious companies in the industry. I wouldn’t be surprised if this turns out to be yet another mill for loot boxes a la Battlefront II, but I’ll hope for the best.

Spider-Man

          This one is my biggest hope for 2018. I’ve wanted an awesome game starring Spider-Man similar to Batman’s Arkham series for years now, and everything I’ve seen from this game looks like it’s going to fulfill those hopes.

          While the main story featuring an older Peter Parker, lesser-known villain Mr. Negative and even fellow Spider-Man Miles Morales looks pretty cool, I’m more interested in what we can do around the open world of Manhattan. I’m hoping for lots of missions to go on and villains to stop outside of the campaign. Marvel has been struggling in the video game scene for the last little while, and this game could be what they need to get back in the swing of things (pun intended).

Yoshi

          Nintendo’s been surprisingly quiet about what we can expect in year 2 of the Switch. They’re probably waiting until E3 to announce their plans for the second half of the year, but right now we’re not really sure what’s coming next.

          I will say this: their currently untitled Yoshi game looks adorable. I’ve never played a Yoshi game I haven’t liked, and since this game looks like it’s taking inspiration from the awesome Woolly World, I can’t wait to jump back into the cute world of gaming’s best dinosaur.

          Just…no crying Baby Mario. Please.

          Are there any I missed? Leave a comment below and tell me!

My Top 10 BEST Games of 2017!

My Top 10 BEST Games of 2017!

          It’s amazing to think another year has come and gone. 2017 truly was an incredible year for games, giving us fantastic new installments to some tried and true franchise, stellar new IPs from favourite developers, and splendid indie titles we didn’t even know we wanted. I’ve picked out 10 of my absolute favourite games I played this year, and believe me, it wasn’t easy choosing just 10 this time around.

Remember that this is just my opinion, and if there’s a game that you feel should be on this list that isn’t, that’s either because I didn’t get to play it or I did play it and didn’t enjoy it as much as you did. Remakes, remasters and ports are also ineligible for the list, but I’d like to give honourable mention to both Crash Bandicoot: The N-Sane Trilogy and Okami HD. They’re both at their best on the current-gen consoles, and you should definitely check them out.

          With that being said…

10. RiME

          Many wrote this game off as yet another attempt by an indie game to make you feel emotions with minimal gameplay involvement. While the big twist at the end definitely felt to me like a bit of a far reach in trying to tug at the heartstrings, there’s no denying that RiME is one of the most consistently beautiful games that I played all year.

          A short but sweet puzzle adventure game, RiME sees you playing as a silent, nameless boy as he explores a mysterious island with a giant central tower that seems to transport him to different worlds. Along the way he runs into several characters who help or hinder him on his quest, including an adorable fox, a group of friendly golems, and a terrifying vulture.

          This game deserves a spot on this list if only for the gorgeous graphical style. While I definitely had to deal with plenty of framerate issues on PS4 (and I’ve heard plenty of grief about the Switch version), the beautiful Disney-esque art of the game was simply breathtaking, especially in the early beach stages. To put it in the developer’s language, RiME is muy bueno.

9. Destiny 2

          Okay, just hear me out on this one.

          Yes, I know Destiny 2 hasn’t had a great last few months. The first expansion was met with such a resounding “meh” that I didn’t even bother buying it, and Activision has busied itself by inserting more and more microtransaction and loot box bullcrap into Bungie’s golden goose. It was initially going to be much higher on this list, but I felt the need to bump it down several spots in consideration of what the game has become recently.

          But here’s the thing: Activision wouldn’t be capitalizing on adding more paid elements into the game months after it released if it wasn’t a great game to begin with. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Destiny 2 during launch enough that I decided not giving it at least some presence on this list would be unfair.

          Consider this as more of a nod to Bungie’s vision for the game we saw back in September instead of rewarding the monster Activision has turned it into over the past few weeks. The campaign storyline is still excellently written with several laugh-out-loud moments, the soundtrack remains one of the best in a year filled to the brim with amazing game music, and the gameplay built extraordinarily well off of the shallow experience of its predecessor. The public events where you teamed up with other players from around the world to defeat a boss in hopes of finding some rare loot were especially a ton of fun.

          While the game might be dying a slow death now, it’s worth remembering that at one point Destiny 2 felt truly alive.

8. ARMS

          This seems to be one of the year’s biggest “love it or hate it” games. Now that a lot of time has passed since release I’ve seen both people come out and say that this was an underrated gem that was unfairly brushed aside for Splatoon 2 a month later as well as people who say they weren’t fans of the game to begin with.

          As for me, while essentially all of my online multiplayer time on my Switch has been devoted to Splatoon 2 since that came out, I loved ARMS a lot.

          As Nintendo’s first true attempt to break into the fighting game genre outside of Smash Bros (and let’s be honest, Smash is only a traditional fighter in that it’s a game where people fight), ARMS is surprisingly engaging and fun. I loved that the punches themselves were more like projectiles than weapons used for close combat. Not unlike Nintendo’s own Punch-Out series, fights ended up being more about timing than memorization of button combos. You needed to wait and stalk your opponent, choosing the precise time to throw out a punch, grab or block. Make a mistake, and you’d pay the price. It was incredibly entertaining to chase your foes around the large stages, waiting for them to mess up and deliver a flaming fist to the chest in retaliation.

          But as much as I loved ARMS, it wasn’t my favourite fighting game released this year. That honour goes to…

7. Tekken 7

          Now that Capcom seems to be using their classic fighting franchises as little more than DLC mills used to get some easy money out of the pro players, I can’t tell you how refreshing it felt to finally be playing a classic-style fighting game that actually had enough content out of the box to make it worth the $60+ you paid for it again.

          Tekken 7 has everything you could possibly want from a fighting game and more. A full-length campaign in addition to a true arcade mode? Check. A lengthy roster of characters with unique playstyles? Check. Nearly endless customization for said characters? Hold onto your hat, because there are more costumes in this game than there are in your local Party City.

          That’s not to detract anything from the fantastic game mechanics. Tekken 7 is easy enough for new players to understand and learn some simple combos, while still boasting enough depth that fighting game professionals will have a lot to sink their teeth into. For someone like me who just doesn’t have the time or patience to master the game, this “easy to play, hard to master” style was right up my alley. While this was my first entry in the Tekken series, this game has made me a fan for life.

6. Cuphead

          I can’t have been the only one who was legitimately worried this would turn out to be a bad game, was I? While the art style was impressive from the start, there was always a nagging feeling in the back of my head that Cuphead would be another indie disaster trying to scrape by on looks alone with nothing to show gameplay-wise.

          I’ve never been happier to be proven wrong. Cuphead is easily my indie champ of the year, a tough-as-nails shooter with some of the best game art I’ve ever seen.

          First, let’s address the elephant in the room: the art itself. This game doesn’t just look like a classic 1930’s era cartoon. This game IS a classic 1930’s era cartoon. Just looking at footage of the game brings you back to the classic Mickey Mouse and Looney Toons cartoons of yesteryear, and playing it feels even better. I even think that it adds a certain amount of challenge to the game, as you have to not be distracted by how incredible the hand-drawn animation on every single detail is and actually focus on the gameplay.

          Speaking of the gameplay, while this game definitely delivers on the promise of a high difficulty level, it somehow never stops being fun. Even when you die, you feel like you’ve gotten a better understanding of how each boss works, and are ready to try again. It’s really hard for a game to pull that off, especially in a game where you die again…and again…and again…

          For my Worst Games list I have a silly bonus award I give out called the Sean Murray Award for Most Anti-Consumer Game of the Year, and I wanted the Best Games list to have something similar along those lines. So I’ve decided Cuphead earns the first-ever Moldenhauer Brothers Award for Best Indie Game of the Year, named for the Canadian duo that developed the game. Congrats, guys!

5. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

          This game feels like it’s sorta slipped through the cracks with all the other amazing stuff released this year, but I refuse to let such an awesome game go unmentioned here! The first full-fledged spin-off to Naughty Dog’s famous Uncharted series as well as the first ever franchise installment not to feature main protagonist Nathan Drake, Lost Legacy is a wild ride through the jungles of India that any fans of the series would hate to miss out on.

          Starring Chloe Frazer of Uncharted 2 and 3 fame, Lost Legacy is a treasure-hunting adventure that ranks up with the best of ‘em, taking some of the best parts of previous franchise games and improving on them. The chapter where you explore the open jungle with a near endless amount of hidden treasures and sidequests feels like the Madagascar level from Uncharted 4 on steroids, and that’s saying a lot.

          The storyline was also excellent, even with an incredibly hard act to follow with Uncharted 4. Chloe and her partner Nadine have an excellent rapport with each other throughout the game, and when their friendship inevitably hits rough patches you sincerely want to see them break through and join up with each other again. While it isn’t exactly on the level of Nate’s final adventure, it’s delightful for a one-off special starring the two.

          Although Naughty Dog’s attention is on The Last of Us Part II for the time being, I sincerely hope this isn’t the last time we’re visiting the world of Uncharted. Whether we rejoin Nathan Drake for a fifth trip into the jungle or follow one of his friends instead, there’s still a lot of long lost temples out there that remain unclimbed.

4. Splatoon 2

          Maybe I’m putting this one too high on the list considering how similar it is to its predecessor, but for me Splatoon 2 was a shining beacon of hope in a year that saw the online multiplayer shooter genre dragged through the mud over and over again with a near endless supply of disappointing releases and publisher backdoor scheming.

          The concept from the first game remains as strong as ever: use a wide array of weapons to paint as much of the floor as possible, and whichever team has their colour represented on the map the most when the match ends wins. Nintendo didn’t meddle at all in the core concept that made the first game shine so brightly, perhaps because the IP is still fresh and new, and considering the Wii U wasn’t met with resounding success this sequel would be the franchise entry point for many. Add in an upgraded campaign mode with a fun story giving the beloved Squid Sisters from the original game a spotlight role as well as a surprisingly tough but fun horde mode, and you’ve got an excellent sequel that is sure to get new fans hungry for more.

          But what really makes me love Splatoon 2 is how unabashedly old-fashioned it is. In a year full of online multiplayer shooters more than happy to mess with players by filling the games with microtransactions, loot boxes, or just plain scummy practices, Nintendo stands tall simply by doing things the way the genre has been done dating back to the days of Goldeneye on the N64. If you want a new weapon or outfit, you need to buy it through cash that you earn by just plain playing the game. No real world money involved whatsoever.

          We all laugh about how behind the times Nintendo can be, with how long it took for them to realize high-definition was the future, how it took them until 2015 to create a major competitor in the shooter market, and how to this day they’re still waging a pointless war with YouTube creators. But when you look at how Splatoon 2 is an incredibly stellar shooter without falling prey to many of the traps that most similar games got stuck in this year, you definitely have to respect the fact that gaming’s oldest developer still knows how to get things done.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

          This was easily the most anticipated game of the year at the dawn of 2017. We’d gone 6 years without a major 3D Zelda title, and 11 years without a good major 3D Zelda title (sorry, Skyward Sword fans! I couldn’t resist!). With the promise of an enormous open world filled with secrets to uncover and mountains to scale, hype was at maximum for Breath of the Wild. Despite the impossibly high expectations going in, this soft-reboot for the franchise quickly proved itself to be worthy of buying a Switch for, even though the game also released on the Wii U.

          Breath of the Wild is all about two things: exploration and discovery. There are a nearly endless amount of secrets in this game, from hidden mini-dungeons called Shrines to secret weapons scattered across the map. There are also awesome landmarks everywhere, such as a giant sword statue hidden in the Gerudo Highlands and a beautiful cherry tree garden where a mythical beast is said to appear. You can spend hours in this game just picking a direction and going that way. Trust me when I say you'll never get bored.

          This game definitely felt like a breath of fresh air for Zelda. Despite still keeping plenty of the traditions that made games like Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess so great, Breath of the Wild doesn’t bother itself with trying to create an experience typical to the franchise. This is a game where you can truly do whatever you want whenever you want, and it’s very exciting to hear the promise that this type of game will be the Zelda standard going forth.

2. Super Mario Odyssey

          And finishing off Nintendo’s hat trick, we have Super Mario Odyssey. This game was simply astonishing in all the best ways. A globe-trotting adventure starring Mr. Video Game himself, this was easily Mario’s best game ever in the over 30+ years he’s been the face of the medium.

          In an age where games advertise themselves on being “immersive”, “in-depth”, “deep”, and other meaningless adjectives, Odyssey is happy being just plain fun. This game is impossible to play without a huge smile on your face the whole time, as around the corner there’s always a new surprise waiting to be uncovered. Collectible moons are rewarded for doing nearly anything and everything you can imagine, and Mario’s new capture ability can be used to control dozens of characters, enemies and objects throughout the many creative worlds the game throws at you. The development team truly didn’t leave a single stone unturned while designing this game, clearly taking player thought process into consideration while building the worlds.

          Just like Breath of the Wild, the exploration factor is what makes the game. You can spend hours in one of the larger kingdoms just finding moons, and you’ll never get bored. While some may think that the hefty amount of moons made it a little too easy to blast through to the final boss quickly, the game was clearly designed with the Nintendo Switch’s portability in mind. You can boot the game up, find a few moons, and then turn it off, leaving feeling completely fulfilled. While you can definitely sink a lot of time into the game if you want to find everything, it’s equally great to play in short stretches of time.

          This is the absolute must-own game for every Switch owner right now. Everything about this game is done perfectly or just shy of perfectly, and you’ll be having the best time ever from beginning to end.

          In fact, I can only think of one game I enjoyed more this year…

1. Horizon Zero Dawn

          This year truly was an incredible year for great video games. Any of the other 9 games I just listed off could’ve been named Game of the Year on their own in a slower year. While the world might’ve been terrible overall, in the world of Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and PC things are looking great.

          But in a year full of amazing titles, for me Horizon Zero Dawn stands heads and tails above the rest.

          This game is simply breathtaking in all aspects. The story is awesome, with several great twists and turns along the way that took me by surprise. The world is fully realized, creating an incredibly believable blend of Stone Age architecture with a sci-fi robotic edge. The enemy design is brilliant, with giant robots inspired by real-life animals and dinosaurs walking the landscape and threatening your safety. The combat is one of the best I’ve ever seen, giving you tons of weapons and options to take down the mechanical beasts, creating very engaging and fun battles.

          But I think what impresses me the most about Horizon is how it has managed to break expectations left and right. Aloy, the game’s female protagonist, is incredibly likable and relatable regardless of what gender or race you are, and she manages to avoid many of the traps that gaming’s leading ladies often fall into. What could’ve so easily been yet another massive open world filled with a whole lot of nothing is instead brimming with life, with hundreds of things to do outside of the main story. And despite being released in the same week as Breath of the Wild, the game managed to stand out by being a more traditional take on the open-world genre, as well as one of the best examples of it ever released.

          Horizon is an adventure that every gamer should experience. It’s such a beautiful, engaging, and above all consistently fun game. I have no hesitation in naming it the best game released in 2017.

          This year truly was an amazing year for gaming, but I definitely played my fair share of garbage too. If you wanna see me revisit my least favourite parts of the year, check out my Top 8 Worst Games of 2017!