My Most Anticipated Games 2017
Considering I’m writing this in April, let’s forget about the first 3 months of 2017 and set our eyes to the remainder. Why does this list seem so short? I actually can’t answer that. It seems as though not many games that fit my tastes are releasing in 2017 (?) or maybe have just not been announced yet. Hopefully, we’ll get some good ‘surprise’ indie games to fill the gaps. This list will be updated as I come across more titles releasing this year. If you know of any I missed, please let me know!
All games are for PC unless otherwise notated.
April
Outlast 2 – April 25
What Remains of Edith Finch – April 25
Little Nightmares – April 28
May
Prey – May 5
August
Middle-earth: Shadow of War – August 22
September
Destiny 2 – September 8
Unscheduled 2017 Releases
Crackdown 3
Red Dead Redemption 2 (PS4,XBOX)
Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
For a full list, not edited by my personal taste bias, I suggest checking out Game Informer’s full list for 2017. It has it all (or seems to at least).
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/01/13/2017-video-game-release-schedule.aspx
Favorite Indie Games 2016
Note: I adore indie games. Specifically, ones that think outside the box and bring something new to the world of gaming. If you know of any great ones I missed or new ones for 2017, please send me a message via Twitter or the contact page. I’m always looking to check out more games! Here’s the list of my favorites released in 2016.
Inside
First up is one of the most popular and award winning games of 2016. I had to include it on the list just for the fact that I had my doubts about it, but honestly could not put it down once I started playing. In fact, I shamelessly finished it in one sitting. Granted, it’s a short game at just a few hours, but wow.. and the ending.. jeez. Yeah it got a lot of buzz across other sites and award shows for being the best indie game, and while it wasn’t my absolute favorite, I definitely can’t leave it off this list.
Abzu
I did NOT like this game at first. In fact, I had to check like twice on the steam store page to make sure it wasn’t a VR game and I was just missing it. You start out just swimming around looking at fish with generally no direction, so it’s easy to mistake it for a VR title. I put about 15min in and quit, thinking this just wasn’t the game for me. But then I heard someone else talking about how great the game was on a podcast, and I was like what the.. what am I missing. So like a good lil gamer, I went back. And they were right. The game suddenly turns into a game, a very simple one, but a very touching one and one that I am SOOOO glad I not only went back to, but finished. Bravo to those devs. Abzu was unique, refreshing and felt very special. Even if small. It normally sells for $19.99 but that’s a bit steep for the only 4hr game, so I waited for a steam sale and got it for 5.99 which felt perfect. Highly recommend playing with a controller.
Oxenfree
Oxenfree was one of the next games I heard about over and over, but about which I knew next to nothing. I didn’t see it streamed nor did I read about the story before playing. Thankfully, I was very glad I didn’t. It’s not the type of story you want to have spoiled or spoil for someone else. It’s of the ‘choose your own adventure’ sorts. Like an Until Dawn 2d scroller. The story and the characters really pull you in, and I felt their fear while on this island of horror. The devs did a great job with the unique art style, the dialogue, and the unique story. At times I felt the controls were a bit rough and the long paths of nothing got a tad old, but the game is short enough to not be too much a pain. There are different possible outcomes and endings, so choose your answers wisely.
Firewatch
Firewatch was the 3rd title that I saw repeatedly mentioned in top indie games lists and it also made mine. If Inside or Oxenfree didn’t hit you in the feels, then maybe Firewatch will because it is not a light game. It deals with some heavy topics and has some nice twists. Go into this game not reading anything about it for the best experience. Another game with great art style and dialogue between the two main characters. It’s short, almost too short. I would have enjoyed more days in the forest just completing meaningless jobs. I may have enjoyed that more than the way the story took the game. I will say that the beginning and ending of the game could almost be two different games in a way. It could have been better, if longer, but overall another must play.
Turmoil
I never thought drilling for oil could be so fun or addicting. This game is relatively simple but does have some strategy elements. I spent WAY too much time playing this game not to include it on this list.
Icey
ahhh I want to talk about Icey, but I don’t because I want you to be surprised. So don’t read about this game, just play it. I can compare it to a few other games that took a similar route, but that would give it away so I’ll just say I highly recommend picking up this game if you see it on sale.
Salt and Sanctuary
If you want a game that’ll make you break a keyboard (or controller) with violence and great gameplay to boot, then I highly recommend Salt and Sanctuary. I died a lot with just the first boss, so if you’re a fan of Dark Souls and boss heavy games, then get this game while it’s cheap. While I didn’t get too far in this game, mostly because I knew I needed a break when I pounded my desk so hard that I got nervous for my tempered glass case sitting next to me, I do recommend it if this style is your jam. I’ll be sure to revisit it with a glass of wine next time.
Other notable mentions:
Hyper Light Drifter: Great soundtrack, pixel art and old school zelda style gameplay. Steam link
Plague Inc (finally full released): This one has been around for a while. You destroy the world by creating a plague. Surprisingly hard. Steam link
Owlboy: I didn’t get too far into it, but I can see the appeal. Steam link
Reigns: Chill and hilarious card game. Very unique. Steam link
Mass Effect: Andromeda
I spoke about this game during Content Overload Ep 1. To sum it up here:
The facial graphics, especially for the default female character Sara, are pretty darn bad. My theory is that it’s something with the eyes. They’re just not.. correct and it makes her look like she’s on drugs. It definitely takes you a bit out of the story, but not enough to stop me from playing the game. I’m just past EOS, so this is a very early game review. Overall, it plays a lot like Mass Effect 1 & 2, which I loved. Definitely not for everyone, but I found myself hooked and not wanting to stop. Too bad life gets in the way of games these days, so I haven’t gotten too far past the 14hrs or so I played the first weekend. Some parts are a bit tedious, but weren’t they in the first two as well? Why should we expect anything different. Farming the planets can be time consuming just simply for the travel time between them and the tram on Nexus brought me back to gaming years ago where a load screen appeared every time you opened a door to a new location. Thank goodness for skippable subtitles as well, as some of the interactions can take a bit of time. I’m one who would rather read through them quickly and click on then wait for the actors to fully complete their sentences.
A follow-up/complete review will comence once the game is complete. But as a painfully annoying completionist, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.
Pros:
always fun exploring space
cool story
combat is straightforward
the warthog, or whatever it’s called, is fun to drive.. except when it won’t go uphill
Cons:
oddly long load times (on a speedy pc nonetheless)
sometimes tedious quests
some facial graphics
Overall:
If you liked the 1st two games, ignore the naysayers and give this one a try.