GameTech: B-listers offer plenty of gameplay

When it comes to hyperbole, the games industry is without doubt the single greatest achievement in human history. 

Jokes aside, this industry does tend to overhype and exaggerate a little. For once, however, the hyperbole is justified — 2017 really was one of the greatest years ever for gaming.

To honour this year, we’re not going to bring you a list of the top games of 2017. That list pretty much writes itself, with Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Horizon Zero Dawn all vying for top spot. Instead, here’s an alternative list of gems that we enjoyed this year, a tribute to the also-rans and B-listers.

Thimbleweed Park

Don’t mistake that for “tumbleweed” — this is a game that rarely lets up, providing laughs at every turn. Thimbleweed Park is the long-awaited ‘old-school’ adventure game from Ron Gilbert, the creator of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. It stars two FBI agents, in the style of Mulder and Scully, who investigate a murder in small-town America. It has everything that made ‘90s adventure games great — wit, challenging puzzles and superb characters.

Sonic Mania

Sonic may be the fastest hedgehog in the world, but he was unusually slow in delivering this sequel to the original series. While fans have seen countless Sonic games released over the last 25 years, it took until now for the old magic to rekindle. Sonic may not hold a candle to Mario (to be fair, the candle would never stay lit at those speeds) but Sonic Mania shows why he earned those comparisons in the first place.

YS: Lacrimosa of Dana

What happens when a silent protagonist shipwrecks on a magical island? The answer, of course, is a JRPG. There’s no punchline, because Lacrimosa of Dana is no joke — it’s one of the year’s best games. In an era where open-world game design has players doing mindless errands and “area captures”, YS strips away the filler and gives gamers a fantastic, colourful, challenging island to explore, with every second worth the effort. It’s a brilliant action RPG, with one of 2017’s best soundtracks and a combat system that’s Streets of Rage meets Zelda.

The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind

Fifteen years ago, thousands of gamers wandered the wastes of Morrowind alone, exploring one of gaming’s greatest ever worlds in isolation, the way Bethesda intended. There was always a question hanging over the experience, though — what would Morrowind be like with other people? This year, Bethesda gave us a chance to find out, by releasing a Vvardenfell expansion for Elder Scrolls Online. The gameplay is nothing much like the original, but the chance to wander Morrowind with friends was a special moment.

RIME

Too often, we speak of games lacking substance in their stories. There is rhyme, but no reason. RIME had plenty of both. This is one of those rare games where the ending justifies the journey. There’s a lot to admire about RIME’s art style and simple, exploratory gameplay. It’s a game you can enjoy even without the story. However, a poignant, gut-wrenching ending, delivered with class and emotion, makes this one of 2017’s most memorable games.

The Mummy Demastered

The movie had more ancient eejits than ancient Egypt, but the game is a different story. It may not have been the best Metroidvania of the year (we even had a real Metroid in 2017) but it showed the most heart. Released in no man’s land, months after the movie flopped in cinemas, The Mummy Demastered could have been a half-hearted cash-in. Instead, the developers put time and effort into making this a really enjoyable side-scroller that stood on its own merits. A triumph for passion over pessimism.

NieR Automata

Arguably the best of 2017’s ‘also-rans’, NieR is also the biggest surprise of the year. No one expected a game about masked, existential robots to sell millions — but it deservedly did so. While the financial success of NieR was a pleasant surprise, the game’s pedigree was not.

Coming from Platinum Games, who also made Bayonetta and Metal Gear Revengeance, this is another top notch action game with a heavy dose of weirdness. The best part? Once you finish the game, things don’t end there — replaying NieR changes the experience, linking into the heavy themes of identity and memory.