Bottled Fuchsiacast

I have two rules for “Kay Games”: make it cute as hell or make it violent as hell. Either one will hook me. Guess which way my list skewed this year?

Most feels: Wolfenstein: The Old Blood and The New Colossus

This is a bit of a cheating two-for to start with, but whatever, my list. I finally sat down with my 2015 Game That Got Away in preparation for Wolfenstein: The New Colossus and finished Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. I built such a connection with pipey, I was sad to let him go at the end of the game. Sure to some it was just a silly pipe that you used inexplicably for every aspect of that game, but to me, it was more. The New Colossus was just a roller coaster of emotions, from gut-wrenching sadness to just bonkers laugher. There were other games that touched me and made me cry, but collectively, Wolfenstein still has my heart.

Biggest disappointment: Syberia III

Funniest: Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

Prettiest:Nier

I’d like to say I mean the scenery in this game, but…I don’t. I think this was a game with one of the coolest art styles I’ve seen in a while. It was haunting and Japanese as fuck and beautiful and chilling all in one. Playing as one of the protagonists for most of the game, well…there’s a reason there’s an achievement for trying to look up her skirt repeatedly.

Most addicting: PLAYER UNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds

Any given night, when I’m not working, all I want to do is just come home, get

theguys together and play this  game for 5 hours straight. There were plenty of weekend nights where I could have been doing respectable “Saturday Night’ things, but all I wanted to do was play this damn game.

Best early access game: Slime Rancher

What even is “early access” anymore? I think I played this game in early access, but then it officially released, so

does that count? Slime Rancher is a really adorable game that I kinda hated at first if you heard me mention it on the podcast. Since then, I stumble across a whole section of the game that I didn’t know was there, and it opened up the whole game to me in a new way and I got sucked right back in. This was a great cute little relaxing game to play when I was indecisive about what to play next or when the guys weren’t on yet for PUBG.

The one that got away: Prey & Night in the Woods

Of Course I’ll Rebuy that!: Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy

Shame : Diablo III

That Beat Tho’: Persona 5

different characters and locations and how the music enhanced the feel and vibe of the story. I don’t think I could hum any of the tunes from the game, but I kinda feel ok about that. This isn’t to say that the music wasn’t memorable or excellent, it was, it just did its job perfectly within the game and didn’t become an earworm when I stopped.

Best MultitaskGame: HQ

The Future is Bright: Dead Island

On the podcast when I gave Dead Island this award, my fellow bottlers gasped in shock tht this was still a thing, so maybe my future isn’t so bright after all. Dead Island would easily win the award for Best Game Trailer Ever inwhichthegamedidn’tactuallyliveuptothehype. It has been in development hell, with more than one studio shutting down or passing on the baton of this game, but I still have hopes for it appearing in 2018 in some form or the other.

Top 10

10: Stardew Valley

I think from now on my 10 spot will be reserved and known as “yeah that game everyone was raving about last year but you didn’t get to play actually was really really good.

9: Armello

This game is certainly a few years old by this point, but there’s something simple and intriguing about it that holds my attention. Its part board game, part strategy, and part dice game. Its a beautiful game and is engaging to play using various play styles like domination, magic or fighting.

8: Wolfenstein: Old Blood

I swear, eventually I get into current games from this year. Old Blood was a solid pre-sequel to New Order, but mostly I played it get it off my “to-do” list and get me amp’d for New Colossus. The game was just as good as New Order and filled in a lot of interesting storyline gaps. Plus it had the character of the year, pipey.

7: Sexy Brutale

This game snuck in at the end of the year, and its a bit a shame of that as it actually came out in April. Its essentially an adventure puzzle game that used some time-warping as a mechanic quite effectively. You have to solve the mystery of the deaths of all the people at the Sexy Brutal hotel. These deaths all happen in one night and the story unfolds one death at a time. The ending went some interesting places that really sold an already excellent game for me and was a serious “Woah” moment.

6: Goragoa

Goragoa was a game on iPad that I just stumbled upon while trolling for a time-killer game. What I found was a beautifully addicting hand-drawn puzzle game with too short a play time. You essentially tell a story by shuffling 4 panels around the screen. Sometimes the panels align in a certain way, or have cutouts to help you solve puzzles. When I solved a puzzle I was amazed and always felt like the smartest person in the room. I really wish this game was more substantial, at only an hour long, my time with it felt much too short.

5. Persona 5

A game that I put 120 hours into and about 3 months of my life coming in at the middle of my list says something about the games this year. Persona 5 was maybe nothing outstanding or unique in the way of JRPGs, but it was just so solid all around. It was so goofy at times, the music was so excellent, the fights were the right kind of challenge. The story line was insane, but the characters were delightful to get to know and I felt a little sad when I finally left this world.

4. Divinity: Original Sin 2

I’ve said it several times, this isn’t the game I asked for or wanted, but this is the game I needed. This came so out of left field (for me anyway) that before I knew it I was 70 hours into a game I hadn’t even heard of a few weeks ago. Early on there’s a side quest with Buddy the dog and finding his companion Emmy. This quest had me doing a serious ugly cry and I still actually tear up talking about it. Maybe this game just caught me at a particularly emotional moment, but I don’t think that was it. I made an instant emotional connection with this world and I was easily addicted to the plate-spinning aspect of the game. Just one more quest, if I go here, I can get this item and along the way work on this quest and well, while I’m here let me go right over here and get this item and let me go back and turn in this item and OMG HOW IS IT 3AM.

3: Nier: Automata

Android Butts.

2: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds

I don’t think I can say much more about this game that hasn’t already been said. Its certainly not the best technical game of the year. It has flaws, and I’ve had some really shit experiences with the game, but nothing, nothing compared to the feeling I had when I got my color Chicken Dinner, or even my 2nd place Chicken Dinner. There’s just… something unexplainable about this game that I just adore.

1. Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

I don’t even know where to begin with this game. It picks up directly where New Order left it with BJ Blaskowicz beaten, bloodied and his literal guts spilling out. The game starts with one hell of an opening sequence to recap and never lets up. I actually enjoyed the combat in-between the bonkers cut scenes. I thought that it allowed for different play styles. You can play a bit stealth or a use a bit of strategy, but really its all about going in guns blazing and just lighting up nazis. It feels good to just empty clip after clip, such a stress release. I couldn’t get enough of just the noise of the dieselkraftwerk and the very satisfying pop noise, followed by everything around you on fire. I could gush on and on about the cuts scenes and the story yanking you in so many directions from sadness into immediate hysterics. Its not so much that I want to spoil things for my dear readers, but it just doesn’t have the same impact to read it than when you experience Hitler killing actor Ronald Reagan and then pissing in an ice bucket before puking his guts up on the carpet on a Venusian moonbase while pretending to be an actor playing BJ Blaskowicz.

The setup is always easy…

2017 was a great year for video games, but the worst of my life. In July, my father, Doug, suddenly passed away. I think about it several times a day, every single day. There is a lot more to say about this, but I don’t feel like I can find the words to do it yet. My dad’s casual curiosity and enjoyment of video games brought them into my life at a young age. This year more than ever, I needed an outlet to keep my mind from wandering, and there were plenty very good video games to do just that. My dad loved to write. So, I’m going to write about some of the best video games of 2017.

First up, the awards.

Most Feels: Night in the Woods

Going home means different things to different people. Night in the Woods captures the feeling of returning home. Everything is different, but the same all at once. It’s a story about growing up and trying to find your place in the world. The writing is amazing. Most younger-adult game dialog feels closer to “How do you do, fellow kids?” while Night in the Woods just felt natural. It didn’t quite make make my top 10 list, so I felt like I need to give it some love here since it was the most moving game I played in 2017.

Biggest Disappointment: Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

I really enjoyed three acts of this game. Unfortunately, it has four. The developers seemed to double down on the new attacking/defending keeps aspect of the game and made the entire fourth act about defending keeps over and over and over and over and over. This game had so much potential, and failed to stick the landing.

Funniest: Night in the Woods

Night in the Woods back again. The dialog and interactions between the characters in this game provided some of my favorite silly moments in 2017. Mae’s relationship with her parents is most often on the lighter side. And Gregg. Gregg is just a delight. Crimes.

Prettiest: Cuphead

Cuphead became the talk of E3 years ago based on 15 seconds of video in a sizzle reel. It should be no shock that it’s 1930s hand-drawn animation style is one of the best looking games in 2017.

Most Addicting: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Just one more round. We’lI can totally do better next time. Repeat.

Best Early Access Game:  PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

This may be the last year for this category. The line for “early access” has become more blurry than ever in 2017. I tend to disregard games while in early access and wait for their full release, but PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds was a wave that was inescapable in 2017. It was and remains my multiplayer game of choice.

The One That Got Away: Assassin’s Creed: Origins

This is the first time I’ve given this category to a game that I spent time playing, just not enough time. I love the Assassin’s Creed franchise and that’s how I know I missed out here. I really enjoyed my time with Assassin’s Creed: Origins, but putting in under 10 hours just wasn’t enough and I simply ran out of time this year. I fully intend to continue on and maybe it makes my top 10 next year.

Of Course I’ll Rebuy That!: SNES Classic

The Super Nintendo is my favorite console. The SNES Classic came with some of my favorite games of all time. This will probably be the only Nintendo Classic system I purchase.

Shame: CRAZY TAXI Gazillionaire 

It’s a clicker game. It has THE Offspring song you want. I didn’t really “play” it a lot, but I sure did open it enough times to fully max our the multipliers for EVERY driver.

That Beat Tho’: Persona 5

I spent a lot of December listening to this soundtrack on repeat and decided it was the one that made me the happiest. I have two runner-ups that I assume that my fellow Bottled Fuchsia folk will give this award to: NieR: Automata and Cuphead. Shout out to Pyre as well.

Multitasker: Destiny 2

“For the past several years Destiny has been my game for mindlessly running bounties while catching up on podcasts, wrestling, or pretty much anything else.” This is what I wrote last year. It still applies, but fill in Destiny 2.

The Future Is Bright: Red Dead Redemption 2

Another Red Dead Redemption. Yes please.

On to the list!

Honorable Mentions: It’s my list and I’ll add honorable mentions if I want to!

10. Middle-Earth: Shadow of War

The follow up to my favorite game of 2014. I had high hopes, so I was disheartened to hear from some early reviews that the game eventually brick walls. I felt relieved once I was able to play it myself. I’m not a stickler for the Tolkien lore, so Shelob suddenly being a lady didn’t hang me up a ton. It had what I wanted. A ranger with his own ring of power and his elven spirit pal who gives him even more powers. The world is bigger, the orcs are goofier, and the addition of the keeps as a major goal to control each area was a nice touch. Like with most open world games, there are a few side quests, things to collect, and activities. Mainly, I enjoyed running around Middle-Earth, stumbling into orcs, and building my army. It creates some goofy and terrible situations. The game has…flaws, to be kind. Talion is angrier in his quest for revenge and somehow even more boring all at the same time. The collectibles and challenges don’t pay off in a very satisfying way. I’m a sucker for an open world collection-based game that plays well, and I had fun despite these flaws. I anticipated this game hitting around 5-6 on my list through Act 3. Then Act 3 ended and Act 4 started. I was to defend all a keep that I was in control of. I was successful. Then was asked to do it again, this time the orcs attacking were higher level. This is the wall. This is Act 4. Defend (or attack if you lose a keep) ad-nasiusm. I verified with Conman who had finished this was it. I stopped playing. The developers doubled down hard on the wrong part of the game. I enjoyed my time with Middle-Earth: Shadow of War and for that it gets #10 on my list. I had it locked in before many of the other spots. I felt it deserved a place here, but couldn’t give it anything more based on how much I was let down. See Biggest Disappointment Award.

9. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

I really liked Doom last year, so I was intrigued by the Wolfenstein remakes. Kay was a very big fan of The New Order, so I decided to give that a shot first to see if I wanted to pick up Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus. The answer was yes. I ripped through Wolfenstein: The New Order. By the time Wolfenstein 2 released, I was ready to dive back in. Wolfenstein is a game of moments with some gameplay you happen to play through to see the next moment. The game starts with a very grim tone. BJ nearly died, was thrown back together, and doesn’t think he has much time before his body just gives up on him. This is represented in the gameplay by your health being capped at 50. We get flashbacks to BJ’s troubled childhood where we find out that his father was a scumbag. Bleak stuff. About half way through the game, the tone takes a major shift and goes bonkers. The moments continue. Oh, do they continue. My major complaint about Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus was that I didn’t particularly enjoy the gameplay all that much. It wasn’t bad by any means, it was fine, but I found myself pushing forward to get to the next bit of story. Oh, that story. It’s worth checking out for sure.

8. Pyre

Supergiant games’ Bastion and Transistor are some of my favorite games and soundtracks.  Obviously, I was excited for Pyre, before I even knew a thing about it. The core gameplay from Bastion to Transistor was a pretty big pivot, so I was curious to see how it it would be built upon. I was not expecting text heavy story progression with some 3v3 American Gladiators style sport as the gameplay loop. It works, it works really well. Playing as The Reader, you read the stars and move your team of exiles, The Nightwings, to perform The Rites (matches) while making stops along the way, building bonds with the other exiles, and dunking your way to freedom of the other teams of exiles. Supergiant games build worlds like no other developer. A neat aspect in this game is that whenever major plot points such as characters or places or lore pieces are mentioned, the text is highlighted. You can then scroll over top of the word to learn what it means and how it fits into this world. It provides for much better dialog where characters converse like people who live in that world without have to spell everything out for you. Every time I thought I had the game loop figured out and was disappointed it might become a slog, it seemed like it knew and adjusted accordingly. The story is good and will continue even if you lose every single rites. The game goes out of it’s way to try and stop you from restarting a match. They try to teach you that losing is fine, and can become part of the story. Most people’s enjoyment of this game will really depend on the 3v3 rites gameplay. Each character has different abilities and levels up as the game goes on. At certain points, characters may be unavailable which causes you to mix up your team. This is actually a tricky way to get you attached to all of your characters. By the end of the game, I was ready to restart and try some things differently. Like telling Rukey I liked his mustache. I felt like a monster for making him shave it.

7. Cuphead

Cuphead is a game I grew fond of over time. A very challenging game, it frustrated the hell out of me. That’s it’s purpose. It’s a series of boss battles that you are likely going to bang your head off of over and over, but every time you’ll learn a little something. Eventually, it all comes together in glorious fashion.  Defeating a boss makes it all worthwhile. I’m not usually one for punishing platformer  or bullet-hell games, but just look at Cuphead.  It’s the type of game that you show to everyone as an example of how far video games have come and how amazing they can look. Every aspect is so lovingly crafted and on top of that, the gameplay is tight and feels like a perfect package. It’s not bullet-hell difficult for difficulty’s sake, it’s designed intentionally for you to learn, choose a strategy, and overcome. Everyone has their proper controls and their perfect set of weapons and items. If you ask, theirs is the best because they beat Cuphead. It’s hard to not feel like what you used must be the best option to actually make it through. I didn’t have as much fun with the  run-and-gun levels, but I do appreciate the fact that all of those levels CAN be completed without killing a single enemy. Cuphead is a great example of the developers designing the game they wanted and not trying to go beyond their scope. Cuphead is probably one of the most complete package in this list of games. Oh. By the way. If you see him. Don’t mess with King Dice.

6. Destiny 2

Destiny has been one of my favorite games to play off and on since it released in 2014. If you’re a return reader to these yearly lists, you’ve probably seen it pop up all over the place. The Destiny franchise has what I’m looking for in a MMO-lite game. Destiny 2 has more of that, and it’s on PC this time so it looks even better. Bungie continues to put out the best-feeling first person shooters. It’s very easy for me to log in, check what daily or weekly quests I have remaining, and just jump in. Now that my game of the year crush has finished, I look forward to getting back into the habit of checking in more frequently. Eventually, I’ll check out for a few months until a new piece of DLC or expansion is added, and I’ll come right on back. It’s a cycle I’m OK with, and probably why I didn’t have as many problems with Destiny 2 as a lot of it’s fans had. Simplifying weapons down to one standard version with a few minor adjustments was a positive to me. I didn’t find any enjoyment in trying to find or re-roll a weapon to have the perfect perks in the previous version. I think putting sparrows, ghost shells, and ships into bright engrams was fine. Not the best solution, mind you, but fine. With the amount of time I play, if I had completed something long and monumental and received something like a sparrow at the end as a reward, I’d be a little pissed. I think Bungie has mishandled a lot of things with Destiny 2, and they should fix them. At the same time, I still enjoy it and have a hard time bringing myself to get worked up over many of the issues. Bungie doesn’t get a pass, they should just do better. Easy for me to say though, and I like a lot of their changes. I still have yet to complete the raid, but did attempt it a few times with a group of friends and had a lot of fun with it. I still hope to get the gang back together and finally knock it out. Oh hey, did I mention Destiny 2 actually launched with a proper story this time? It’s pretty neat that it makes some sense this time around without the game having to be adjusted to put pieces into a logical order. Destiny 2 is going to be an ongoing saga of changes as the community becomes more and more vocal about it’s content. I’m sure hoping that it will re-appear on my list next year and I can say that they got past this rocky launch phase.

5. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has become the game that every other game is now racing to mimic and cram in their game. The battle royale-style game type isn’t original, but PUBG simplified the formula that, finally, appealed to me . 100 players jump from a plane onto an island, find weapons, and try to be the last one alive, while a big painful circle forces them to get closer and closer to each other. Where games like this have fallen apart for me in the past was generally the crafting aspects. PUBG simplifies this. If you’re lucky enough, you may have a gun seconds after you land on the ground. No punching trees to make a spear or bow and arrow. Any number of guns, and the action kicks off. Or, you can choose to try and find a more isolated area and begin the process of slowly collecting and upgrading your gear over time, preparing for the middle to late round gun fights. This is where the game can be rough. Spending 20 minutes picking things up only to open a door and suddenly get shot and game over. Back to the lobby. Start again. It can be frustrating, but I can’t say it ever really bothered me all that much. Most of the time I knew I screwed up. I should have checked a corner. I shouldn’t have just run out in the open. The recent addition of the death cam has really helped me personally in figuring out what I’m doing wrong, and trying to adjust in the future. Since it spent most of the year as an early access game means PUBG had, and still has, a fair amount of jankiness to it. Moments of buildings disappearing. Vehicles taking funny bounces into oblivion. Open doors being closed, closed doors actually being open. Despite all this I generally had a great time with  PUBG. I don’t play a lot of games solo, but love jumping into a duo or squad game when friends are around. No game has ever come close to the feeling of being one of the last few people alive in a match. Laying on the ground looking for movement. Watching the circle to make sure it doesn’t close in too far. No game has ever forced me to stop and remind myself, “It’s a game, breathe. Settle down.” I got adrenaline shakes afterward and I would just have to walk away and calm back down. I’ve felt tense in video games, but nothing like this. It’s the culmination of an entire game of preparation and a bit of luck. PUBG feels like it’s going to be my go-to multiplayer game for awhile. At least until something comes along to dethrone it. It’s going to happen, but we’ll likely have to suffer through a lot of bad clones and rushed implementations first.

4.  Super Mario Odyssey

Earlier I said Cuphead was “one of” the most complete packages this year. Well, Super Mario Odyssey is THE complete package. I don’t think I’ve played a 3d Mario game that has felt so polished. Every kingdom Mario travels to is thoughtful and well designed. If you see something and wonder if you can get to that spot, there’s a good chance you can platform your way there. Not only can you get there, but Nintendo already had the same thought and put a moon or some coins there. Every time I jumped somewhere I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be and got some coins, it felt like Nintendo saying, “Good job! We figured some players would want to come here and we didn’t want to give them nothing, so here are some coins.” Instead of the normal star collection, this time around we’re collecting moons. With over 800 Power Moons to collect, they are EVERYWHERE. If you think there’s a moon somewhere, there’s a good chance you’re right. It makes an initial pass through Super Mario Odyssey a joy end to end. I spent more time than I needed to in each kingdom collecting moons before decided to see AN ending. Post game provides plenty more to do. Each kingdom unlocks more moons, and I gladly went back for a second pass through each kingdom. As of this writing I haven’t finish collecting everything, and I’m thrilled there’s more for me to do. It’s a perfect game to pick up for a couple minutes, collect a few missing moons, then set it back down. I went into Odyssey concerned that Cappy would create a gimmicky Mario game. The ability to transform into Mario into different enemies was a fun addition, but it certainly didn’t overshadow the normal Mario platforming. I have yet to mention New Donk City. There is a kingdom that is a city, named New Donk City. Pauline is the mayor and sings a pretty awesome song. If you haven’t heard ‘Jump Up, Super Star!’ do yourself a favor and go give it a listen. Then if you want the Nintendo section of E3 2017 experience, listen to it for about 3 more hours on repeat. It’s still a really good song. I’m sure there’s a ton I’m forgetting to gush over. The best praise I can give to Super Mario Odyssey is that it made me happy. Even now, it puts a smile on my face when I play it. I’ll feel pretty bummed when I finish collecting everything, but hey, I guess Nintendo is adding some DLC. Don’t ruin this good pure thing Nintendo. You did good in 2018.

3. NieR:Automata

For the first hour or two of Nier: Automata, I hated the game. I had the worst time fighting the two saw arms of the boss in the opening section. I died a countless number of times. It was likely my own fault for not understanding the dodge system could be abused more than I realized. My issues with the gameplay don’t end there. The combat was neat, but not anything very special. It’s a bit repetitive once you figure out a system that works and the aspect of hacking is introduced. For some reason, I was irritated by the sand sliding in the desert area of the map. I felt like the characters slipped into a “sliding down the sand dune” animation far too easily and kind of wish it just wasn’t there. At this point, it’s not a huge secret that there are several endings to NieR: Automata. While, it  does add to the game, and I realize it is a lot to ask of players to get to “credits” twice before the game advances forward. I’m sure I had a some more issues with the game, but that’s the most I can think of at this point in time. It’s a lot easier to nit-pick the minor flaws than talk about what NieR: Automata is, a really mind blowing video game. It’s a 2d/3d shoot-em’-up scroller sometimes, but mostly an action role-playing game were you play as androids fighting for the humans against the machines who are fighting for the aliens that sent them to Earth. The gameplay often messes with the player, triggering “glitches” making it hard to know if your game is messing up, especially if you have the PC version. The transitions between the gameplay styles and different scenes is masterfully done. The music and sound are just top notch. Each song seamlessly transitions between levels, with and without vocals, and even 8-bit versions. It all sets the mood perfectly. NieR: Automata is ultimately a game that makes you question humanity, yourself, and the game you’re playing.  I don’t want to dive very deep into it, so please just play it so we can talk about it. It’s a game that I finished in the fall and still think about a lot. I thought about it so much to the point where it jump from #4 to #3 on my list just prior to recording our Game of the Year audio. I realized I was very excited to talk about it and it had been months since I last touched it. I urge you to try and get through it. If you’re feeling skeptical try to power through. I promise it’s worth it.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

The Zelda franchise is one of my favorites. A Link to the Past is my favorite game of all time. I don’t think I’ve felt a sense of wonder in a Zelda game since that time, and Breath of the Wild finally replicated it. It’s so different from what I expected. I had no idea that if the usual aspects of a Zelda game were stripped away and broken down to the core I would still enjoy it so much. Breath of the Wild basically gives you one task, “Destroy Ganon”. After said task is assigned, the path you take is up to you. There is plenty of world to explore and when they said “see that mountain, you can go there.” they mean it…unless it’s raining then it’s just a pain to get there…but you totally can! The traditional temple being broken into lots of mini trials was a good way to make a huge world feel full. Generally, if there’s something within your sight line that is worth checking out. Would I have preferred some traditional dungeons? Absolutely. I felt the divine beast “dungeons” were a little lacking and hope they have a least a few traditional style dungeons in the next game. I’m generally not a big fan of the survival game genre, so the weapons breaking, food cooking, and adjusting outfits based on conditions aspects sounded like a pain. However, while I was playing I can’t say it bothered me a great deal. The weapon and shield cycling was the most annoying but eventually you have such a plethora of them it becomes a minor inconvenience. This was the perfect game to release with the Switch and showed off exactly what the console can be. I very easily put over 80 hours into Breath of the Wild  by picking up the Switch, finding and complete a few trials, then picking back up later and repeating the process. The quests weren’t always the most rewarding. In fact, some of them were honestly just bad, but it never really bothered me because I loved  just running around Hyrule. Much like Super Mario Odyssey, I generally had a smile on my face while playing this game. The original Legend of Zelda is the only comparable in the franchise I can think of that truly lets the player explore. You can find areas you probably shouldn’t be in, but just maybe there actually is a reason to be there. I can’t tell you the number of times I would bang my head off something in Breath of the Wild just to get somewhere, only to realize there was a much easier way. I think that makes it great. I had my own adventure. I wasn’t lead from A to B to C. I could have rush right off to fight Ganon, but I wanted to be ready. I would only be ready after exploring as much of Hyrule as I could. Finally, I made the decision that I needed to be done, and that was that. I had a lot of fun with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and some of that fun I made myself and I love that I was able to do that.

1. Persona 5

I’m usually good for about one long JRPG per year, and in 2017 we finally got Persona 5. If you know me, you probably could have guessed this was going to come in at #1. I loved ever aspect of Persona 5. From the first trailer, it oozed with style; the art, the music, the menu screens. Do me a favor and Google “persona 5 menu cosplay”. Right?! The art is so good that people are cosplaying as the battle menu. Persona 5 hits the ground running by putting the protagonist in the middle of a heist that seems to be going all kinds of wrong. In the end it does go wrong, and you get caught. Through dialogue with a public prosecutor, you retell your story. If you’ve played a Persona game before, you know this entails living a totally normal Japanese student life, hanging out with friends and townsfolk to build social links, aaaand also jumping to an alternate reality where you need to correct the wrongs of the world by summoning personas to help you battle the baddy personas. The bad persona can also be convinced to join you through a series of questions. I like to explain it as Pokemon for adults. Many of the core concepts are the same, but with some far heavier themes and more teen angst. The subtitle to Persona 5 may as well have been, “All The Adults Are Assholes” because from the beginning of the story onward, boy, are adults assholes. Your character was sent to this town because he was charged with assault for stopping a politician from sexually assaulting a woman. You’re on probation and everything assumes you’re a big ol’ delinquent. To prove them all wrong, you make friends and promptly form a team of Phantom Thieves. Your goal is to steal the hearts of the terrible adults and try to make the world better. The story is pretty bonkers and I honestly don’t think this cast of characters is the best in the Persona series, but they’re still lovable by the end. I admit to using a guide so that I would be able to max out all my personal stats and view all the social link stories. Those are some of my favorite parts of the game and I didn’t want to have to re-invest another 100+ hours because I missed a few. That being said, I’m ready to go back and finish off some of the missing trophies which require a second play through. Oh, yeah. There is also an actual cat thief who can turn into a van because humans often perceive cats as having the ability to turn into transportation. It’s a very heavy time investment, but certainly worth a look. Even if you’re not a fan of JRPGs, give this one a shot. Or don’t. I’ll still love it.

That’s the list. Overall, not a great year for me, but at least there were some excellent video games to get me through it. You’ve got a tough job, 2018. Be better.

Hug a loved one! Thanks for reading.

2017 was another fantastic year for video games, and eliminating guinea worms. Get fucked guinea worms, and no don’t Google guinea worms. With no other pre-amble here we go!

Most feels: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

Biggest disappointment: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Funniest: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

Prettiest: Horizon Zero Dawn

Most addicting: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

Best early access game: Dead Cells

The one that got away: Night In The Woods

Of Course, I’ll Rebuy that!: Spintires: Mudrunner

Shame: Gundam Breakers 3: Break Edition

That Beat Tho’: NieR:Automata

Best MultitaskGame: Warframe

The Future is Bright: Wattam

And now onto the list……..

10. Zelda: Breath of the Wild

9. Destiny 2

8. Golf Story

7. Tacoma

6.Steam World Dig 2

5. Horizon Zero Dawn

4. Nier

3. Prey

2. Mario Odyssey

1. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

One of those silly battle royale games sure did dominate my list this year. I managed to pull myself away from it long enough to play some other games though. Here’s my top 10 list which might differ from the Bottled Fuchsia group list because mine is correct.

10. A Hat in Time

This is an adorable 3D platforming game that took me back to the good old days of Nintendo 64. The game just has so much heart. Characters are whimsical, the artstyle is beautiful, the soundtrack is fantastic, and the platforming and fighting feel great. I love the idea of using hats to gain different powers and putting badges on those hats to modify the powers but I wish the idea was expanded on a little more. I will anxiously look forward to a sequel because the team accomplished some great things here.

9. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

The Wolfenstein reboots have always been fairly wacky but this one definitely takes it to another level. It seemed like a series of hilarious and over the top cutscenes strung together with violent Nazi murdering in between. I don’t think The New Colossus improved on the franchise much but it was certainly a unique experience that was well worth the playthrough.

8. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Ultimately I did have a lot of fun with Breath of the Wild. I don’t think it was a particularly good Zelda game or an amazing open world game either, but it was fun to play. Discovering new interactions in the giant sandbox world was probably the best part of the game. If you think something might work chances are it will so experimenting with different items and ways to take out enemies was a blast. Shrines and divine beasts were enjoyable and completing them was fulfilling but perhaps not as much as finally clearing that epic dungeon in older Zelda games.

7. Nier: Automata

Nier is a game that almost defies description. It’s mostly an action game but sometimes a SHMUP, sometimes a 3D mech flight thing? It takes itself way too seriously and at the same time not serious at all. It seems to delight in trolling the player at times with things that feel like glitches but are just part of the game’s charm. A rather insane yet deep story is told through many different endings across multiple characters. If I didn’t encounter so many bugs with the shoddy PC port this one would have been higher on my list.

6. Horizon: Zero Dawn

An incredible action adventure game with robot dinosaurs! The environment was a unique combination of early tribal humans and advanced technology. As the story unfolds you slowly discover the reason for all the roaming killbots and what happened to the ancient society that created them. With multiple ways to approach combat, fights always felt interesting. There were plenty of giant robots to defeat and a good amount of human baddies thrown in as well. An incredible game from start to finish that was slightly soured for me by the post credits “gotcha” scene.

5. Hollow Knight

Hollow knight is a 2D platformer metroidvania game with bug like creatures set in a world nearly all but forgotten. The game slowly reveals bits of history as you explore further and encounter more inhabitants of this forgotten world. Despite it’s toned down colors the game still manages to be beautiful. Each new area discovered is interesting and has its own unique look and feel. I actually found myself drawing maps and taking notes while playing just to keep track of everything. It felt overly challenging at first but I quickly found the groove of discovering a new area, finding the map merchant, and pushing further and further.

4. Cuphead

Cuphead is a boss rush platformer that simply oozes style with it’s hand drawn 1930’s cartoon artwork. The beautifully composed soundtrack matches the art so well both in quality and style. Despite being frustratingly difficult at times I absolutely loved it. Each death was just a lesson and a personal challenge which made finally completing a level or boss all the more rewarding.

3. Divinity: Original Sin 2

The game feels a lot like playing a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, including all the goofy interactions and situations you might get with a whimsical yet brutal dungeon master. Your party is in a poison cloud and you cast a fire spell on an enemy… BOOM everything explodes. Teleport a burning enemy into an oil barrel? Why not!? None of the typical “quest is this way, dummy” arrows or hand holding and you can easily get into a situation you are horribly underprepared for. Characters are interesting and have wonderful voice acting. The combat is challenging and rewarding. The story is compelling with plenty of lore to discover. It’s easy to see why many people hold Divinity: Original Sin 2 as one of the best RPGs of all time.

2. Prey

The 2017 installment of Prey had a very System Shock feel and little to do with the original 2006 release. The game is set in an alternate timeline where the assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy fails. After this incident there’s a stronger focus on the space race and eventually humanity encounters a hostile alien life force known as the Typhon. You play as Morgan Yu, a member of the TranStar research team aboard the Talos 1 space station studying the Typhon. Of course the aliens infest the space station and you’re forced to use your wits, guns, and powers adapted from the Typhon to survive. I loved the way they handled the ending but I wish choices were a little more impactful.

1. PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS

PUGB is a janky mess of weird bugs, cheaters, and questionable physics. Yet it’s still the game I keep running back to for that glorious chicken dinner high. No other game I’ve ever played comes close to the adrenaline rush this game gives me. I love the strategy involved with trying to outwit other players and moving towards the ever shrinking circle. With how popular the game was this year there was always someone around to squad up with. Swift death is always more enjoyable with friends, right!?

Awards:

Most feels: Night in the Woods

This game certainly had some emotions. Emotions and crimes. Mae returns to her small hometown after dropping out of college. Stuck in limbo between childhood and adulthood, she struggles to find her place with the the friends that never got the opportunity to leave. Each character seems to have questionable mental health which makes them all the more lovable.

Biggest disappointment: Destiny 2

Destiny 2 was a lot of fun for about three weeks but then the magic died. The gunplay felt amazing, the game looked incredible, and it ran super smooth on PC. But after exhausting all the content so quickly the only thing left was the grind and I ultimately lost interest.

Funniest: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds

I’ve had some incredibly hilarious interactions this year while playing PUBG. Cars on rooftops, cars flipping, cars exploding… just questionable vehicle physics really. Something that should be a negative in a game created some serious laugh out loud moments. Player interaction was also a source of amusement. Every time we attempted to cross a bridge or camp one ourselves it usually resulted in a spectacular death while laughing. I still giggle when I think about tossing a grenade into a shack and closing the door on the unsuspecting player inside.

Prettiest: Cuphead

Cuphead really accomplished something incredible with it’s unique hand drawn art style. It was a joy to watch that game and see how each new boss interacts with the environment. Getting distracted by how amazing the game looks wasn’t my leading cause of death but it certainly happened plenty.

Most addicting: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds

I have an itch and the only way to scratch it is more PUBG. I’m frequently telling myself “one more round” until the wee hours of the morning.

Best early access: PLAYERUNKNOWN’S Battlegrounds

Tired of me talking about PUBG yet!? Good because this is the last nomination for it. I played a few amazing early access games this year but I didn’t follow any of them as closely as I followed Battlegrounds.

The one that got away: Assassin’s Creed: Origins

For better or worse I tend to play every Assassin’s Creed game. I’ve heard great things about Origins and I’m glad they took an extra year off to make it good instead of tossing out something mediocre. Sadly I didn’t get to play it in 2017.

Of course I’ll rebuy that: Spintires: MudRunner

Development stalled on the initial Spintires due to issues between the publisher and developer. After that the developer, Pavel, released MudRunner which is a slightly tweaked version of the original. It felt like I was buying a game I already owned but the extra features make it a solid purchase and I’m happy that Pavel gained control back and can continue working on the game.

Shame: Path of Exile

PoE is an amazing game so I’m not ashamed that I play it every year. But perhaps the sheer number of hours I dump into the game with each new league is cause for a small mountain of guilt.

That beat tho’: Nier: Automata

This soundtrack might be one of the best game soundtracks of all time. It somehow managed to match each area perfectly and was as eclectic as the game itself. I continue to get songs from this game stuck in my head long after I finished playing it; especially Pascal.

Best multitask game: Divinity: Original Sin 2

With turn based combat and so much content, it’s natural to put something up on the second monitor while playing. Youtube videos, streams, whatever. Divinity: Original Sin 2 was a great muti-tasking game.

The future is bright: Metro: Exodus

I’m a huge fan of the previous Metro games and the book series. So I’m pretty stoked for a new game, especially one that lets you explore the destroyed civilization above ground.

This week on a very small airport-approved bottled fuchsia, we discuss what games we’ve been into lately. Kay plays TF2. Aaron and Kitty play Cuphead together and surprisingly are still on friendly terms. Nanners plays some awful(?) VR games. He plays Shooty Fruity, which was great, but you know you tuned in to hear about the KFC horror sim.

We are about to make you really uncomfortable about ever wearing any colored accessory ever again. Back on the podcast this week is Conman, who gets sexy in a hotel solving some puzzles. Jon plays a bit of Night in the Woods and seems to like it. Kay gets really uncomfortable searching for a man, to help raise a daughter. Nanners is impressed by trailers with no noise so he played The Mummy Demasters with sadly no Brendan Fraser. Brady plays A Hat in Time and has a really good time with it.

NEWSSSSS:

We look forward to games in 2018 and judge the Steam Awards. We also ponder if we have a mental disorder now that addictive gaming is one.

Games Discussed:

Path of Exile

A Hat in Time

Cuphead

Night in the Woods

Horizon Zero Dawn

Sexy Brutale

Dream Daddy

The Mummy Demastered

This week we give Nanners the tribute he deserves and turn him into a verb. Have you ever Nanners’d? We have. Aaron plays Breath of the Wild, but this time on a bike. Brady lets some zombies into his base in They Were Billions. Jon walks like an Egyptian in Assassin’s Creed Origins. Kay plays a game she can’t pronounce, but it sure it pretty and puzzle-y. Nanners plays some VR games that he didn’t put enough hours into the first time with Fallout VR and Talos Principle.

News:

PUBG is official, hooray, GOTY: solved.

The Game Awards happened. Sure.

Games Mentioned: 

PUBG

Path of Exile

Gorogoa

Monument Valley

They Were Billions

Breath of the Wild

Cuphead

Talos Principle VR

Fallout 4 VR

We’re visited by the ghosts of GotY past as we re-read our top ten lists dating all the way back to 2013. Kay continues to argue for DOOM to beat Overwatch a year later, Jon never gets back to driving the scissor lift in Watch_Dogs 2, Nanners declares 2014 the year of Frog Fractions 2, Brady continues flushing out ideas, Aaron ruins Mario Kart 8 for Kitty, and Conman judges everyone’s lists. Recorded during our 2017 Extra Life marathon!

All of them.

Our Game of the Year podcast is coming up next month!

This week we discuss some interesting mobile titles like HQ. #FreeScott We welcome back Aaron who has defeated his illness and discusses the Switch games he tried to play while he was down for the count. Kay and Nanners explain some good VR games, and other to avoid. Jon and Brady play the things that have been talked to death, such as Destiny 2 and Super Mario Odyssey.

Games Mentioned:

Kay: I Expect You To Die, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes VR, Wolfenstein 2

News:

Star Wars: Battlefront 2 lootbox fiasco

We talk a lot about Wolfenstein: The New Colossus and all its ridiculousness. Nanners doesn’t join the party since he didn’t play, but he did play a Russian truck driving simulator called Spintires: Mudrunner. There’s the usual bits of Destiny, Super Mario Odyssey and a bit of Hand of Fate, but mostly Wolfenstein. We avoided spoilers pretty well too FYI. In news the crew dips their toes into the internet pool and remembers its a dangerous place. We root for Microsoft streaming service to succeed and Blizzard updates some things.

Game Mentioned:

Kay: Roller Coaster Tycoon: iOS, Wolfenstein 2

News:

Telltale layoffs