That was for number 3 
Hmmm... What's left? What will be number 1? What will the "Upset" be...? Tune in tomorrow! 
I knew number one was a four letter N word. I just had the wrong one.
Oh so close.
It's depressing how few of these I've got around to playing so far. Even the ones I have played, I haven't finished. FML
I'm just happy Mario+Rabbids didn't make number 1. I started playing this a couple of days ago, and I just don't get why people seem to love it so much.
^ Boo this man!
1. Nioh (PS4) -- In a year full of great games, awesome new characters and surprise after surprise, nothing prepared me for how much I was going to love this game. The kicker is, I cancelled my pre-order before the game came out, having been burned out on the Souls games and their hardcore difficulty. Something didn't sit right with my decision, though, as the buzz built before release and I found myself on launch day, sneaking into a store early and grabbing a copy on instinct alone. I have had no regrets since. What followed was 140+ hours of the finest, most balanced, most nuanced gameplay I've ever experienced. Souls-like gameplay + Ninja Gaiden style weapons + Team Ninja quirkiness all melded together to make an experience quite unlike any other. Such color, such variety in the creatures, demons, massive bosses and human opponents you face. Balancing your Ki, knowing what stance to take and when, waiting for the perfect time to unleash your Spirit Creatures. The game becomes a deadly dance, a ballet of blood, if you will. When I say this game is masterful, I mean MASTER-FUL!! There's a loot system here too, there's crafting weapons and armor, there's dojos and side-quests, bounties and challenges galore. As great as Zelda and Horizon were, they kinda overstayed their welcomes. I played this more and DID NOT want to stop! If you remember, this game was announced something like 10 years ago. First for PS3, then PS4. Progress reports came and went, the game changed concept a couple of times. Everyone thought the worst. On the contrary, it was time well spent. Nioh is not only one of the best games of 2017, it's one of the best games E-V-E-R ! ! ! How can it not be my number 1?
Well done, Leo! I always look forward to this.
Hmmm... Did you say well DONE ?
...
...phantom_leo said:There will be an upset in the end...
Does anyone see anything wrong with this?
Nice work, Leo!
Looks like it was a great year. I probably should have played something from it. Oh well.
1. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch) -- Heartache. Back pain. Love and Loss. Sickness. Depression. Seriousness. Hopelessness. Not the best way to start a GOTY entry, huh? This has been my life for over a year. My demeanor is always straight-faced now. I struggle to laugh or break a smile. There are definite reasons for my absense on the site for most of the past year, but I'm not going to get to them all here and now. What the important take away here is: Adulting is hard. There are times when I feel like that care-free spirit I knew not so long ago will never return. I wouldn't say I was child-like, but I was known for always trying to maintain a sunny disposition. A lot was riding on October 27th this year. My expectations were high and anticipation was causing me stress. I drove home from GameStop saying: "Please, if anything can do it, please let this be it. Please. I want to smile again. Please make me smile." I popped it into the Switch and...
I've compared past Mario games to being a kid on Christmas morning. The colors like Christmas tree lights. The boundless joy and whimsical freedom of simply runnning around and jumping to Mario's "Woo-Hoo!"
...a smile cracked my hardened face that day.
If Mario Galaxy was like being a kid on Christmas morning. Odyssey is like being a parent, seeing your child experience Christmas for the first time. It instantly recalls memories of the past. It lightens your spirit. If only briefly, it makes you forget all of your troubles and washes them away. It reminds you of what it is like to be a child again. To simply play.
I'm not saying Odyssey is better or worse than Galaxy. Galaxy is one of the tightest, well-designed games out there. Odyssey is different. It encourages you to explore. To tinker. It encourages curiousity and incites wonder. It celebrates an all-new type of Mario Adventure while also cherishing and highlighting his past.
It was exactly what I needed.
Whereas Nioh was the game I game'd the hardest this year, Odyssey meant something entirely different and personal to me. Games as an interactive medium have a way of bringing out emotions otherwise dormant or missed. I can't say one is greater than the other. I will not choose between the two. For the first time ever, there's a tie for my GOTY and I'd have it no other way!
**I find it ironic the Mario game that would bring me back to reality has a bit of reality all it's own! Some would call it jarring, I call it appropriate.
Not an upset at all! I’m pleased to see it as your number one!
Had the same feeling this year when I started W101, Leo. <3
At that point, it was the first time I was able to play a game that raises the heart rate/was very visually busy/noisy in a long time.
That game is also a gem.
Indeed. There’s just something about Nintendo games, Mario ones in particular, that give one such a joyous feeling when playing them. You might call it that “Nintendo magic”.
I'm the same way when I play a new game in one of Nintendo's old franchises. It just reminds you of being a carefree kid, and puts a smile on your face. Rareware used to do this to me as well, and Yooka Laylee (another game I have not beat) also made me smile for the same reason. As did the new Sonic (yeah, didn't beat that one either).
Good work Leo, this was a fun read.
2. Persona 5 (PS4) -- The Shin Megami Tensei games and the Persona games have become an obsession of mine this year. I crank 'em up to the hardest difficulty levels and grind my way to God-hood. I'm completely engulfed in Shin Megami IV: Apocalypse at the moment, but I am biding my time to sink my teeth deep, deep into this one... Why is it so high on my list? Everything, literally EVER-Y-THING has SUCH a STYLE and SUBSTANCE to it, I can pop it in the PS4 and just stare at the Options screen for an hour! I played a big chunk of it first thing this year, but then put it on the back-burner to (1)Devote the time exclusively to it, it deserves and (2)When the Winter lull hits THIS will be my gaming Sanctuary. I cannot believe Nintendo secured the rights to SMT:V for the Switch, but between P5 and IT, I am set with all the RPG goodness I need 'til the end of NEXT year! Atlus has a spot on my GOTY 2018 list, guaranteed!