2017 - 84 games
January
#1 Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy + - 8 3DS - Jan 5th - 16 hours
I was really impressed with this game, it looks and plays great, the 3D effect is one of the best. I like Ace Combat games but I'm not very good at them but this one has manoeuvres which makes it a lot easier. The game only lasts like 3-4 hours but there are 4 difficulties and extra/survival missions which I did all of.
#2 Super Mario Odyssey - 10 Switch - Jan 7th - 42 hours
First 3D Mario I've 100%ed. This game oozes creativity, the controls are perfect, there's surprises round every corner and it has a boat load of content. Only negatives were it was pretty easy other than a few post game challenges and the coin grind at the very end was a bit of a pain but that's only for completionists.
#3 Mafia - 7 PC - Jan 9th - 10 hours
Mafia is a difficult game to rate, it does a lot of things well, especially for the time. The attention to detail is great, it goes for realism/immersion over GTA-style craziness, the story is genuinely good and the best part of the game and the voice acting is solid (at least across the main cast) The gameplay however doesn't hold up as well. The cars are (rightfully so for the time) slow and painful to drive, and there is a hell of a lot of driving back and forth. The shooting is a little better, but the AI is stupid and most gun fights play out the same.
#4 Killzone - 6 PS2 - Jan 20th - 8.30 hours
This game is not as bad as I thought it might be, which I know isn't a great compliment but I had fun with it. The first impressions are poor but it gets better as it goes on. The story and characters I actually liked, the four characters you can choose each have differences which make the levels play out slightly different depending on who you choose, the graphics and sound are good, and once you realise to adopt a slower pace, the gameplay isn't too bad at all. The frustrations come from the awful frame rate, the PS2 just can't handle this game, and the later levels which end up just throwing wave after wave of bullet sponge enemies with few health packs in sight. I wish I had played the PS3 version as that has a much better frame rate.
February
#5 Halo 5 Guardians - 7 Xbox One - Feb 9th - 5 hours
Pretty standard stuff, shooting things is fun and the levels give you some options in how to tackle the encounters. Game is pretty drab in the first half but some nice locations in the 2nd and it feels really good at 60fps
#6 Rime - 6 PS4 - Feb 12th - 4 hours
Okay little game with beautiful graphics and soundtrack
, it's a little slow and one of the chapters stood out as not as good as the rest. The frame rate is not very good which is a shame because it really takes you out of the environments when all you can pay attention to is the fluctuating fps. Most of the puzzles were fun to solve though easy and the story is pretty good.
#7 Gears of War 4 - 8 Xbox One- Feb 14th - 7 hours
Played this one co-op and enjoyed it a lot. It had a fair amount of variety (for a shooter) and the new weapons are fun. It keeps it simple but effective. Played a bit of multiplayer which seems kinda dead but was good stuff once we got in a game. Gears 4 is just an overall great package of a game.
#8 CoD Black Ops III - 4 Xbox One - Feb 20th - 7 hours
(Talking about campaign only)
whatthehellwasthat.jpg. Another we played co op and without a doubt the worst mainline cod campaign. The story is bananas which I wouldn't mind if it didn't keep hassling control away from the player for it's nonsensical bullshit. The level design is some of the worst in a fps I've played, they just throw you straight in, nearly every level is just a huge area filled with enemies, no pacing at all. The same old cod gameplay is there with some new abilities which are whatevs, so it's almost half decent but the level design sinks it.
#9 Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons - 6 Xbox One - Feb 23rd - 3 hours
The unique controls were interesting although I was still fighting them by the end of the game, and the story tries to pack a punch but its a little heavy handed and the puzzles were too easy so I was leaning towards being bored rather than engrossed.
March
#10 Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle - 8.5 Switch - March 1st - 27 hours
Actually completed this a few weeks ago but meant to come back and do the ultimate challenges, but after getting stuck on the 2nd one I'll call it a day. I was a fan of this game from the start of the rumours, I like turned based strategy games and from playing ghost recon on 3ds I knew Ubisoft had it in them and they proved me right. Super fun, challenging, funny, polished and a great soundtrack. Bring on a sequel.
#11 Picross DS - 9.5 DS - March 5th - 74.30 hours
Well like 7 months later I finally finished every puzzle in Picross DS. This was my first time playing Picross and I totally loved it, the way you self teach yourself new techniques as you get better is rewarding, at first you think how can I not take a few guesses here and there but there is always a way. One of the best value for money games I've ever bought, paid just £3. I've ordered Picross 3D but I should probably take a little break before diving in..
#12 Bayonetta 2 - 9 Wii U - March 10th - 28 hours
Replay: Incredible game that solves some of the bigger problems with the first, however I feel like some changes to the combat and the easy difficulty make me prefer Bayonetta 1 ever so slightly. I was never able to do infinite climax on B1 but here I did with pure platinum. Still, when that's the only complaint I can come up with, you know the rest of it is pretty damn good.
#13 The Beatles: Rock Band - 8 PS3 - March 13th - 5 hours
It's sort of a miracle this game even exists but I'm glad it does and they really did do a good job chronicling the Beatles. The intro and presentation as a whole are fantastic.
#14 Chrono Trigger - 9 DS - March 20th - 20 hours
Chrono Trigger pretty much does everything very well. The sprites and animation are great, the soundtrack has some great tracks like Frog's Theme, the techs keep the battle system interesting throughout the game, I like how each character has moves that can interact with every other character. I also like how the NPC dialogue changes based on your time travelling antics, especially in the side quests which were probably my favourite part.
#15 A Way Out - 8 PS4 - March 26th - 6 hours
Honestly I wasn't expecting that much from this game but it surprised me a bit. It's a little janky, the writing is kinda bad at points, the voice acting is all over the place, BUT, it's co-op integration is creative, the mini games are fun, its (unintentionally) absolutely hilarious, the second half of the game goes off the rails in a good way, and the end segment was pretty incredible. Me and my friend were laughing the whole way through and we had a great time.
#16 Call of Duty - 7 PC - March 28th - 5 hours
Not much to be said about this one, impressive and innovative for the time, been there done that nowadays, which isn't really the games fault. There were some standout levels and you feel more vulnerable than the later games but the enemy placements were quite predictable and I felt the pacing could have been improved if it jumped around the 3 campaigns rather than having you play them in order one at a time.
#17 Steamworld Dig - 8 PS4 - March 31st - 6 hours
Good stuff. Addictive and somewhat relaxing digging (until you get squashed by a rock), a cool style, and secrets worth exploring for. There's no fluff here and the sequel will definitely go on my wish list.
April
#18 My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - 7 DS - April 4th - 13 hours
Pretty standard Picross game, though for some reason they messed up the stylus controls from the other games which I could not get used to so I had to use buttons. Other than that its fine.
#19 Dishonored - 8 - PS3 - April 4th - 11 hours
I was surprised at how much I liked this game, it has some great level design, fun tools to use (even though using them puts you on track for the bad ending..) and an interesting world. The later levels aren't as good but overall a great game.
#20 Lords of the Fallen - 5 - PS4 - April 8th - 12 hours
This game starts out fairly promising as just a Dark Souls clone but goes to shit fairly quickly. The combat is really slow and clunky, the enemies are designed to be a pain in the arse to fight, major tracking and huge shields in tight corridors is not fun. The level design later on is a mess and thanks to audio glitches I played half the game with no music or dialogue. The game was easy but tedious as the predictable bosses have an enormous amount of health.
#21 Transformers Devastation - 9 - PS4 - April 14th - 25 hours
I sort of low key love this game. I know nothing about transformers but I had a blast playing this, it's not as deep or intense as Bayonetta but its similar and incredibly fun to play. The combat feels great and you move around the battles really fast with a mix of melee weapons, guns and of course your transform. The campaign is very short so you're encouraged to go through with all the characters, which I did..In fact I got the platinum trophy which was a pain in the arse and I don't recommend it. One thing I don't like is the scoring system which is more point based than anything so going for the top rank means just extending the battles as long as possible rather than not getting hit. The loot system is pretty cool too and it feels great when you get a sick weapon but later on they become very rare.
#22 Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions - 6 - PS3 - April 19th - 6.30 hours
A quite flawed game, the story never lives up to its potential and although they give you 4 different Spideys to play with, it all ends up being very repetitive. The Noir levels stand out visually but feel like a bootleg Arkham game and the other 3 are all pretty similar. It's also quite buggy and I had to restart a lot of checkpoints due to progression glitches. The second half of the game felt like they ran out of ideas and the levels got padded and tiresome. However the game looks nice and the combat can be fun in small doses.
#23 Life Is Strange - 7 PS4 - April 23rd - 12 hours
I liked this game overall but.. the game hooks me in with good and interesting characters, a great soundtrack and world that is fun to look around and interact with but lets me go with a rushed final episode that fails to deliver a good ending and take into account the choices you made throughout the game. It went a little Mass Effect 3. Also that lip syncing is just terrible.
May
#24 Dragon Quest - 7 Android - May 3rd - 7 hours
First Dragon Quest game I've played and considering its age it holds up well. I think the mobile version has some QOL changes to the original which helps. The old timey speak gets a little grating after a while. There was grinding as expected but playing on a tablet made it not so bad to grind as I watched TV. There are a few annoyances but the game is brief and charming enough that it's easy enough to look back fondly on.
#25 God of War - 8 PS4 - May 6th - 40 hours
A very well made game but with noticeable flaws. The presentation and voice acting are top tier, the kid isn't as annoying as feared. The combat is quite strategic and deeper than it appears, but the enemy variety is poor, same goes for the mini bosses. The bosses were laughable compared to other GoW games and the game likes to wrestle control away from the player. I also didn't like how the story kept moving the goalposts. It felt a bit bloated with a bunch of shit to collect and hundreds of lore writings that started off interesting but the more they threw at me the less I cared. They stuffed too much into the game and the pacing suffers in the last third. While the other GoW games felt like an intense race to the finish line this felt like a stroll through the park with the semi open world. The combat is the only part of the game that requires any skill of the player, the rest is all automatic or easy. This sounds really negative but overall I enjoyed most the time I spent with the game. I give it 4 stars because the combat was genuinely intense on hard mode, the presentation is outstanding and there are some memorable moments in the story.
#26 Mega Man Legacy Collection - 7 PS4 - May 12th - 12 hours
Not much to say, it's Mega Man, they're all pretty similar. I'd rank them 3>2>4>6>1>5.
As much I as like the old mega man games, I also sort of hate them, mainly how it trolls you with obstacles you can't know are there unless you've played it before. I used save states at the start of stages with no regret.
#27 Brutal Legend - 8 Xbox 360 - May 14th - 11 hours
Replay: I really like Brutal Legend, more than I did in 2010 when I first played it. The live action intro is great. The soundtrack is quality and so is the cast, Jack Black especially. I wish the story kept the humour it promises in the first hour but it sort of fizzles out and the game feels a bit unfinished like they ran out of time. I like the on foot missions but the game sort of ditches these in the second half to focus on the RTS battles, which are fun but control a little clunky and they're pretty easy if you take your time. I enjoyed exploring the open world for secrets and while the side missions are repetitive, they are fun and short enough to not be a problem.
#28 Resident Evil Zero - 6 Wii - May 19th - 6 hours
This game would have been much less annoying without the inventory system. No item box and you have to either lug around a massive hookshot the whole game or drop it somewhere and backtrack all the way when you need it. Didn't mind the partner system as much and the story is terrible other than that it's standard Resident Evil.
#29 Sly 2: Band of Thieves - 4 PS3 - May 22nd - 11 hours
I liked Sly 1, didn't think it was great but it was decent. The sequel however is just plain bad. It starts off okay but once you realise you've seen the best the game has to offer in the first level, it goes to shit. Here's a list of things I didn't like about Sly 2. Every level has the same set of repetitive missions, nearly every mission has an insta fail state, the only difference between the levels is seeing how shitty the mini games will be in this one. Making you play a 3rd of the game as Bentley should be illegal.
The game CONSTANTLY interrupts you with unstoppable dialogue cutscenes the game is FAR too long with each level lasting at least 90 mins, for some reason the cutscene volume is like 200% louder than the in game, the hubs are hard to navigate and there is often only one path to the highest areas, you have to backtrack to the safe house after every mission, the levels aren't designed to be navigated with Bentley or Murray and it's a pain in the arse doing so, and the game crashed multiple times.
The only good points I could give it is some Sly levels feel like the first game and the presentation is still pretty good. Rarely does a game rub me in all the wrong ways like Sly 2 lmao
#30 Kingdom Hearts Final Mix - 8 PS3 - May 27th - 19 hours
Replay: Wanted to try a proud mode play through and with the right abilities and use of spells it really wasn't very hard at all. But it was fun and now I want to play KH2 Critical mode which I've heard good things about
June
#31 Pokemon Crystal -
8 3DS - June 2nd - 33 hours
Replay: A game I'm very nostalgic for and enjoy however I think gen 2 is a little bit overrated retrospectively. The level curve and distribution of Pokemon is pretty bad, it's like they are ashamed of the new Pokemon and hide most of them away until late game. Grinding against lvl 40 wilds to beat Red wasn't very fun. Other than that it's Pokemon and a good one.
#32 South Park: The Stick of Truth - 8 PS3 - June 7th - 10 hours
Very enjoyable and funny game, lots in there for fans of the show. Only problems I had was it was really easy even on hard difficulty and frame rate problems.
#33 Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - 8 GBA - June 10th - 5 hours
This game just feels good to play. The soul system offers a lot of variety, the design of the castle is great and the pacing is spot on.
#34 SUPERHOT - 7.5 Xbox One - June 28th - 3 hours
The length is disappointing but other than that its challenging and innovative.
July
#35 Crash Bandicoot - 7.5 PS4 - July 3rd - 6 hours
Another game I'm very nostalgic for but I definitely know it's not perfect though it looks nice with a new coat of paint. Uneven difficulty and the poor hit detection bring down an otherwise good game.
#36 Call of Duty: WWII - 7 Xbox One - July 8th - 6 hours
An overall enjoyable campaign with some good voice acting and some challenging missions. The story is watchable but the characters are copy and pasted straight from other WW2 movies and the 30fps in game cutscenes are jarring.
#37 Lara Croft and The Guardian of Light - 8 PS3 - July 12th - 6.30 hours
Good balance between co op action and puzzles, a lot of replayability and overall a lot more fun than the modern TR games
#38 Genji: Dawn of the Samurai - 7 PS2 - July 15th - 4.30 hours
Was better than I expected, I didn't realise it was an Onimusha clone before playing though not the same level of quality. With a longer and more challenging campaign this game could have been a lot better however I did enjoy it for what it was, a hack and slash with mashy combat and a dumb story and one that was over before I got bored with it.
#39 Bully - 8 PS4 - July 21st - 20 hours
Great game in a refreshing setting with a lot of side stuff to keep you busy
#40 Enclave - 6 PC - July 21st - 8 hours
Interesting game, similar to Rune but not as good. has some good stuff to it but the difficulty is uneven, the levels are very short and the melee combat is pretty bad. It looks very good for it's time.
#41 Devil May Cry HD - 8 PS3 - July 26th - 11 hours
Replay: My goal with this game was to at least beat it on hard as I'm a bit of a DMC noob and have only played them on normal before. I managed it and it's not too bad outside of the last 2 or 3 bosses which killed any hope of a DMD run, I just don't think I'd be able to beat nightmare 3 on that mode. Either way I'm happy I went back, I love the atmosphere and the amount of choice you have with how to tackle each fight
August
#42 Sacred 2: Gold - 6 PC - Aug 4th - 32 hours
I've had this game for years but always stopped halfway before beating it and I did have to force myself to finish it finally. I like exploring, fighting and looting..for 15 hours. Then it gets very repetitive. The game is just too big. The map is too big, too many enemies, too many boring sidequests (which you better do lest you be underleveled) and its just too long. it gets very tiring and by the end I couldn't wait for it to finish even though I enjoyed the start of the game a fair bit.
#43 The Darkness - 6 PS3 - Aug 10th - 6.30 hours
Very atmospheric with a decent plot but the execution isn't quite there. Some of the darkness powers are fun to use but the controls are clunky, the AI is dumb and the game runs like shit on PS3.
#44 Super Mario 3D Land - 8 3DS - Aug 15th - 13 hours
Enjoyable game from start to finish, if only it wasn't super easy but it was fun getting 100% nonetheless
#45 Donkey Kong Country Returns - 8 Wii - Aug 18th - 6.30 hours
The motion controls suck but other than that it's great. Very challenging which is good but occasionally felt a little trial and error
#46 Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix - 8 PS3 - Aug 21st - 35 hours
Replay: Critical mode. It's true what people say, critical does improve KH2 combat, well the bosses are much more challenging and strategic but for everything else I found it pretty much the same. The bosses are the highlight and some of the optional ones I couldn't even beat
#47 Diablo: Belzebub - 7 PC - Aug 25th - 12 hours
Holds up pretty well with the HD mod, though I didn't realise until playing the mod makes the game much harder which could be frustrating at times
#48 Splatoon 2 - 7 Switch - Aug 31st - 7 hours
(Campaign only) Some well designed and occasionally challenging levels but its over quick unless you want to grind for 100%
September
#49 Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - 7 PC - Sep 3rd - 5 hours
Enjoyable story with good voice acting and atmosphere, I didn't think the stealth or the shooting were that good which is a shame because everything else is, similar to The Darkness
#50 Mafia II - 6 PS3 - Sep 7th - 11 hours
While the shooting and driving are much better than the first game and feel pretty good, the game rarely takes advantage of them. The story was much worse than the first game and pretty disappointing. The 40/50s atmosphere is great but this one feels like wasted potential.
#51 Ace Combat Zero - 7 PS2 - Sep 12th - 4 hours
Pretty standard stuff, I don't think it was quite as good as the other PS2 AC games, it feels like just an expansion and some missions feel identical to ones before, but more AC is still good fun
#52 Maximo vs Army of Zin - 8 - PS2 - Sep 12th - 7 hours
Even better than the first game, combat is improved and a lot of fun, level design is better, and the game is less punishing in general than 1. Platforming is better too but still a little iffy but overall a great game which deserves a sequel
#53 Red Faction - 5 PS2 - Sep 16th - 6 hours
Honestly didn't really like this one. The geo mod stuff is almost completely useless and unused, the controls are awkward, bad stealth sections and a terrible plot. Plods along at a very easy difficulty until the last hour where it gets stupidly hard.
#54 Legend of Grimrock - 8 PC - Sep 21st - 14 hours
Very challenging, great puzzles and level design, a bit obtuse at times but thoroughly enjoyable, definitely will check out the sequel.
#55 Mutant Mudds Deluxe - 7 PC - Sep 22nd - 7 hours
Pretty good, what you see is what you get, very tight controls, decent challenge and just well crafted overall.
#56 Dragon Age II - 6 PS3 - Sep 30th - 24 hours
Big step down from the first game but not altogether terrible. Has some good characters, combat is fun for the first half but then recycled environments, enemies appearing out of nowhere mid battle and boring main plot let the game down.
October
#57 Resident Evil 4 - 10 PS4 - Oct 7th - 27 hours
Replay: Masterpiece. Played through normal, the Ada missions then professional difficulty and loved every minute
#58 Costume Quest / Grubbins On Ice - 7 PC - Oct 12th - 6.30 hours
Fun writing, exploration and visuals make it an enjoyable experience even if the battle system is a bit too simple/easy.
#59 Oxenfree - 4 PC - Oct 14th - 3.30 hours
I know I'm in the minority on this one but I did not like this game. I found the characters unlikable and annoying, walking is very slow and boring and that's all you do, the story is not worth the gameplay, the dialogue system is almost good but flawed in the sense that you can't tell whether your sentence will queue up or interrupt someone else talking, which leads to moments where 2 people are talking about completely different things at once. It felt forced like the interruptions where supposed to mimic natural dialogue but end up doing the opposite.
To say something positive the voice acting is good and so is the background art.
#60 Doom 3 - 6 PC - Oct 19th - 9 hours
Not bad but felt like it was missing something. The weapons don't feel very powerful and a lot of the encounters play out identical, in identical looking areas. Later on the pace improves and you get some new locations. Enjoyable but not quite as good as it could have been.
#61 Van Helsing - 6 Xbox - Oct 20th - 4 hours
As far as licensed DMC clones go..this ain't bad. It's very short and easy and has framerate problems but has fun if shallow combat, some nice looking levels, decent bosses and a handful of unlockables. It's certainly more DMC2 than DMC1 but I enjoyed it more than the former. Speaking of DMC2 the game does rely on ranged weapons more than melee, there's like 6 guns and only 2 melee weapons, though it feels a bit more intended than DMC2.
#62 Alan Wake (+DLC) 7.5 360 - Oct 27th - 12 hours
Good atmosphere, decent story, gameplay is ok but it doesn't really change at all from the start to the end of the game. Pretty good but needed to pace myself to avoid getting bored of repetition.
November
#63 Warhammer: Space Marine - 6.5 PC - Nov 3rd - 6 hours
Starts off kinda boring but picks up, the mix of shooting and melee is quite fun but the level design never lets the game shine as much as it could.
#64 Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 7 PS3 - Nov 8th - 19 hours
A bit less linear than 13, the combat system is still fun and so is the monster catching but the story is just wack and scenes go on too long.
The random encounters are too easy and you only really have to turn your brain on for boss fights.
#65 Castlevania Mirror Of Fate HD 5.5 - PS3 - Nov 12th - 7 hours
Has a bit of an indentity crisis being neither a metroidvania or a classic style, ends up being an average imitation somewhere inbetween. Combat is quite boring although the bosses at least have some challenge. When the game keeps making you switch characters you lose any sense of progression
#66 Victor Vran 6 - PC - Nov 16th - 9 hours
The fast paced gameplay can be fun but it lacks in many areas compared to its peers in the same genre. There are very few weapons/skills, enemies variety is also lacking and they become increasily tedious to take down. You feel as powerful at level 4 as you do at 40. There is plenty to do but after the final boss was dead I was done. It's also full of meme humour.
#67 Enslaved 7.5 PS3 - Nov 23rd - 9 hours
Good story with great voice acting, gameplay is a bit simple and easy even on hard mode but it's still fun, I would have liked to see a deeper combat system with more combos but overall a well paced fun game
#68 Deus Ex 8.5 PC - Nov 27th - 17 hours
December
#69 Devil May Cry 3 9 PS3 - Dec 2nd - 28 hours
#70 Crash Bandicoot 2 7.5 PS4 - Dec 6th - 5 hours
#71 Kingdom Hearts 2.8 7.5 PS4 - Dec 13th - 24 hours
#72 Metroid Prime 3 8 Wii - Dec 18th - 12 hours
#73 Skyrim 8 Switch - Dec 22nd - 105 hours
#74 Quake 9 PC - Dec 22nd - 3 hours
#75 Yakuza 0 7.5 PS4 - Dec 28th - 30 hours
#76 Poi 7 PC - Dec 30th - 6.30 hours