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Metroid: Samus Returns – Games of 2017
Samus and I were in a bad place last we met back in 2010 in That-Metroid-Game-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. I desperately wanted a rebound to get us back to where we thrived best: on our own, blasting aliens, upgrading that suit for the billionth time, and never looking back at explosions. What better title for a game that…
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The Surge – Games of 2017
Apparently, I was starting to tire of slicing, piercing, and dicing my way through difficult foes. Sword fatigue was real in 2017. The cure? Clanging and banging. The Surge adds in some sparks, some loose wires, some amnesia, some sci-fi, the arms and legs of your enemeis as weapons for a souls-like stew that’s worth…
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Strafe – Games of 2017
We knew each other before we actually met, Strafe. I’ve seen you in all the games made me stay here forever, and I know you noticed me. You spoke to me with your first ridiculous ad and I couldn’t wait to paint your walls red. You know, for strategic reasons after the maniacal laughter dies…
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Flinthook – Games of 2017
I found 2017 to be an interesting reflection of games where three genres churned out entries like clockwork: Souls-likes, battle royales, and, my close friends, the rogue-likes. I was pumped for one rogue-like in particular in the spring about a ghost pirate dude: Flinthook. It almost had everything I could want: the look, the hook,…
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Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Games of 2017
The biggest thing I appreciate about Shadow of War is that at its core it knows its a video game. The scale and complexity of its features can be at odds with that fact, but its chaos is the reason that its truly awesome moments aren’t possible in other games. Once I have all the…
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Doki Doki Literature Club! – Games of 2017
From the viewpoint of a new father, visual novels are perhaps one of the easiest games to pick and play with an infant in arm. It’s a lot of reading and clicking for good old family fun. This is only partially the case with perhaps the most surprising free game I would try this year:…
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Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands – Games of 2017
It wouldn’t be a year in video games without a new Clance. Even if I didn’t pull the trigger on a full release Clance, the beta-Clance still sticks with me. I don’t know what Wildlands was trying to do with its story or its mission structure, and most fans I talked to didn’t care either.…
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Puyo Puyo Tetris – Games of 2017
So the first game to prove to me that the Nintendo Switch was onto something was actually released for other devices in 2016. It’s a 2017 game to me dammit! I showed off Puyo Puyo Tetris in just about every way those first Switch ads told us about (ok, the party wasn’t on a rooftop…
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The Darkside Detective – Games of 2017
The only thing worse than liars and crooks are ghost liars and crooks. I’m just trying to do my job here, people (and ghosts). Sure, anyone can write a good X-Files meets Ghostbusters meets CSI joke once, but making me giggle and spit up several cases into your tame looking adventure game hooked me. Detective…
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Game Curious Plus: Vaporum – Clanking Around
Justin isn’t going to sit idly by after someone hacks into his brain. He’s definitely going to fight and fail over and over again until he outlasts all of his enemies. Ruin them with attrition. That’s the motto. Previous Vaporum experience A screenshot and the word steampunk sold me. Initial Expectations, Hopes, Dreams, Fears This…