Super Mario Odyssey is a culmination of thirty years of Mario, and a celebration of video games.
Almost at the cusp of true greatness, but not quite there, Assassin's Creed Origins is nonetheless a rousing adventure that truly manages to reverse the franchise's momentum after the double whammy of Unity and Syndicate.
Metroid: Samus Returns is a triumphant return to form for the franchise, and its greatest victory is that it makes it feel as though Samus never left to begin with.
Pokken DX looks great and plays better, delivering the kind of real time action series fans have dreamed of for years, while also addressing the flaws in the Wii U release.
Fans will appreciate the new take on time honored series mechanics in Monster Hunter Stories, while newcomers will find a more accessible and inviting game than the franchise has ever had before.
F1 2017 bring us a fine tuned, well balanced, fun and compelling, and hugely satisfying racing game that can be recommended to motorsport enthusiasts without hesitation- but it can also be recommended to newcomers, if with some caveats. That is perhaps the game's greatest accomplishment.
For fans of the series, the game is like a loveletter, taking Kiryu's first story, and reimagining it with modern sensibilities. For newcomers, this game represents the best place to jump in- it's a far better product than Yakuza 0, which was great in and of itself to begin with.
Splatoon 2 comes with all of the original game's strengths and weaknesses. It remains incredibly fun and addictive to play, and newcomers especially will fall in love with it. But if you're like me, you will mourn that Splatoon 2 failed to heed its predecessor's advice to stay fresh.
While the story and storytelling have not aged all that well, the rousing musical score, surprisingly strong visual direction, and its incredible, incredible gameplay, all cement this game's place as a modern classic.
In ARMS, players will find the same texture of game design that has made Mario Kart and Smash Bros. so beloved and enduring worldwide. For a brand new multiplayer game, there can be no higher praise than that.
RIME leaves such an impression that it is hard to hold its failings against it too much. It manages to live up to the years of hype and expectation, and it delivers an unforgettable experience along the way.
Street Fighter 2's core gameplay remains as fundamentally strong and compelling as ever, with the Switch breathing new life into it. Fans of the franchise, and of fighting games, would be remiss if they didn't pick this up.
It's 2017, and the 3DS is in its sunset years- but Fire Emblem Echoes stands as one of the best additions to its library yet, and one of the best games in a year that has so far been full of fantastic games.
If you are just jumping in for the very first time, prepare to have your mind blown away. A true modern multiplayer classic, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe stands as one of the greatest games that Nintendo has ever made.
Drawn to Death is neither a total hit, nor a complete misfire- it does a lot of things wrong, but it also does enough things right for it to end up as one of the most thoroughly unique, if flawed, shooters on the market.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is hands down the most sophisticated, best open world game we have ever seen- and also the best Zelda game, the best Nintendo game, and quite possibly, the greatest game of all time as well.
While the graphical cutbacks are disappointing, Poochy and Yoshi's Woolly World is an unbelievably cute game with inventive mechanics and levels, and a solid platforming base.
For Honor is, most of all, a fun game, and it is a game that has some real depth and soul to it.
Thoroughly addictive, extremely exhilarating, and most of all, a whole lot of fun, Nioh is probably the finest example of its genre, and perhaps one of the best games of this generation.
Yakuza as a franchise has so far failed to gain any traction in the west- if ever that were to change, there is no better game than Yakuza 0 for that to happen with.