Arbitrary Awards 2017

It's the end of the year, and what a better time than now to look back at all of the great games that released this year... Except I didn't play every single great game that came out this year as I don't make money off of my reviews, nor am I prestigious enough to be sent review copies. Regardless, I'd like to acknowledge five games that I think deserve to be remembered as the most remarkable games of the year, in no particular order. Though, I will be awarding the title of "Game of the Year" to my personal favorite of these five. Since I'm such a powerless reviewer, obviously these awards are meaningless, hence the title of "Arbitrary Awards." If a game you really enjoyed this year isn't on this list, it doesn't mean I think it's bad or unworthy; I probably just didn't play it. Besides, like I already said, these awards are meaningless.

1. Metroid: Samus Returns.

After a seven year absence, the Metroid series has finally returned with a remake of its second oldest game, Return of Samus, that is so much improved over the original that it's practically a different game entirely. Samus Returns is a 2D platform shooter in which you are tasked with exterminating aliens known as "Metroids." Given that this is plural rather than singular, the game is fairly open. Instead of going point A to point B, it's more like going from one area to another. While some people might complain that Samus Returns does actually prevent progress until a certain amount of Metroids have been killed, I find that it still leaves plenty of room for exploration within these segmented areas.

Despite the fact that Samus Returns is a remake, there is plenty of new to be found, both in terms of additions and in terms of improvements. The most apparent of the changes made is the huge graphical overhaul, which makes the game look incredible. I'm not usually one to boast about how good a game looks, but I can't help but praise them. The game's background are detailed to the point of absurdity for a 2D game. The fact that all of it can be viewed in 3D is the icing on the cake.

The gameplay is also really solid thanks to some quality of life changes and tweaks to returning items. One of my favorite changes is how the Ice Beam - a power-up for Samus' main method of attack - is now its own firing mode rather than being tacked on to the other beams, which would change them from one-hit kills to two-hit kills at best. It's also rather impressive how the developers managed to balance all of the powers to make every one useful throughout the whole game. For example, the Grapple Beam in previous games (well, game) would become useless once the player obtained the Screw Attack, but in Samus Returns, the Grapple Beam has an extra function that keeps it relevant even after obtaining the aforementioned power-up.

Along with her returning abilities, Samus was given some new abilities to make the game fresh for series veterans. The first of which is the melee counter move that's available from the start, which can be used against charging enemies to stun them temporarily. This move is very satisfying to use, and it's easy enough to get the hang of while still remaining appropriately tricky to use against tougher enemies. The other four of Samus' new abilities are the Aeion powers that are discovered throughout the game. Each of these powers uses a resource called "Aeion" - go figure - which can be obtained from successfully countering or killing an enemy. While three of these powers must be used to progress, one of them is never required, but is certainly as helpful as the others. The power in question is called the "Scan Pulse," and it fills in portions of the map and highlights destructible portions of terrain. Not only did the Scan Pulse help me beat the game without a guide (which I've never done before with a Metroid game) but it also helped me 100% complete the game (which I've also never done before with a Metroid game, guide or no).

The fact that the Scan Pulse was never required tells me that the developers really knew their audience. It's a perfect aid to new and casual players while still allowing hardcore fans to find everything on their own. The ability is also tied to Aeion, so if you run out, you can't use it, which makes it hard to spam. I mean, you could spam it, but then you'd constantly have to refill your Aeion. If you choose to never use it, you'll have more Aeion to use on the other powers, which works in the favor of hardcore players.

Samus Returns wins the awards for Remake of the Year and Platform Shooter of the Year. Yes, Platform Shooter of the Year, and not "Metroidvania of the Year." Metroidvania is a dumb genre title that is way too broad to have value.

2. Fight'N Rage.

You know how people like to call things "the blank of blank" when making a comparison? Well, Fight'N Rage is the Undertale of brawlers. With the exception of the music, this game was made entirely by one guy. One guy! All of the character designs, spritework, game design elements, and programming was done by Sebastián García. Speaking as someone who wishes he could make games himself, this guy is a real inspiration.

The brawler formula is rather easy to mess up, especially if they have four directional movement. Some games make hitboxes so specific that you have to be perfectly lined up with your target to hit them. Some games have stiff controls, or lack flow between attacks. Fight'N Rage doesn't do any of this. The game flows very smoothly, and the player gets a satisfying amount of control over crowds of enemies; it can feel like controlling a good kung-fu movie.

Garcia struck a perfect middle-ground with the game's difficulty. Story mode is set to Normal by default, and you have to unlock Easy. This might sound bad, but win or lose your first try at story mode, Easy will be waiting to be unlocked afterward. On a personal note, I appreciate that Easy mode is acknowledged as a mode for people to feel good and have fun rather than a mode for losers like some other game treat it. There are also several higher difficulties to unlock as well, but they're completely optional. Furthermore, the gameplay mechanics allow for a highly skilled player to do super well while also remaining fun for those who aren't as skilled.

Time for trite words: the graphics and music are both really good. The graphics are sprite-based (mostly?), and each character has smooth animations. Additionally, the use of colors is also really nice, and it makes the backgrounds very pleasant. The music is appropriately rocking, especially the boss battle music, which reminds me of "Beelzeboss" by Tenacious D - in a good way.

Fight'N Rage wins Brawler of the Year and Most Wanted Switch Port - seriously, this game would be awesome to have on Switch.

3. Gigantic.

While the game has been in beta for quite a while, and I first came across it sometime last year, Gigantic had it's official this year, so I think it's fitting to acknowledge its greatness now (plus, I didn't have this site last year, so I couldn't have done it then, anyway). Gigantic is a free-to-play MOBA developed by Motiga that defies the conventions of the "MOBA" genre. While it is indeed a multiplayer online battle arena, it lacks the common elements of other such games, like lane pushing and "jungling." Instead, Gigantic is all about gathering power for your team's Guardian from one of three objectives: killing players, killing enemy creatures, and collecting Power Orbs.

The whole game is designed in such a way that everything is easier when done as a group, making teamwork crucial. Summoning creatures, which act as a utility as well as a mostly stationary ally, takes less time the more people there are standing near the summoning spot. At the same time, however, synergy between characters is almost irrelevant, since the gameplay structure doesn't force you to have one tank character, one healer, one assassin, et cetera. Players are free to choose whatever characters they like - provided a teammate hasn't already selected that character - and their chance of winning won't go down because of it.

Speaking of characters, they're all fantastic. Not only do they all have very nice visual designs and satisfying animations, but their skillsets are also fun to use and have upgrades that all have uses. Unlike other games with mid-match upgrades, characters in Gigantic don't necessarily have "optimum builds." The best way to build a character is around your own personal playstyle. For example, Beckette's cannon can be upgraded to pierce foes or have a blast area on impact. Some players would recommend the piercing, but I like to chose the blast area to help compensate for my poor aim. Some characters are even designed to have builds that are suited to different tasks, such as Aisling, who is a melee-oriented character who can be built as an assassin/ganker, a support character, or even a shooter. Yes, you can rework the melee character into a ranged character. Thanks to how balanced character building is, matches are less about who knows the game best, and more about who is the best at it in execution.

On top of the solid gameplay, Gigantic exists as a free-to-play game with none of the usual free-to-play nonsense. While the game does have a premium currency (an in-game currency that can be bought with real-world money), the game doesn't try to strong-arm you into it the way other free-to-play games do. In my time playing, I have been able to unlock four characters using the free currency without dedicating hours and hours a day to playing. I got those four characters by playing one or two matches a night, and it never felt like I was "grinding" for the in-game currency. Furthermore, character reskins aren't tied to loot boxes; you simply buy them directly. While some skins can only be bought with the premium currency, you are at least guaranteed to get what you pay to get, which is more than some $60 games can even say (I'm looking at you, Overwatch!).

I've got a few awards I'd like to give Gigantic: Best Art Direction, Best Sound Design, and Free-to-Play Game With The Least Free-to-Play Nonsense.

4. Has-Been Heroes.

Admittedly, I wasn't the hugest fan of Has-Been Heroes when I first played it, but once I unlocked all of the spell elements, the game really grabbed me. Has-Been Heroes is a roguelike strategy game developed by Frozenbyte. While the game does take a while to open up, once it does, Has-Been Heroes becomes a strategy game that goes unparalleled. Gameplay has you running from node to node through several areas, fighting enemies and acquiring items and spells along the way to get strong enough to fight the boss that bars progression to the next area. Once a battle commences, you must defeat the oncoming enemies by removing their stamina with an equivalent amount of melee strikes to open them up for a direct attack to their health. Alternatively, you can cast one of your hero's spells to damage their health directly, remove stamina, and/or apply one of the various elemental effects. Depending on what elemental effect an enemy is currently suffering from, you might also trigger an elemental combo when hitting them with a different element, which can increase the spell's damage, spread its effects to other enemies, or even create a new element entirely.

The enemies will start on the right side of the screen and work their way to one of your three heroes on the left. If an enemy reaches them, your hero will get attacked, and the enemy will restart their trek on the right side of the screen again. Time automatically pauses after you send a hero down their lane to attack, allowing you to switch their positions to allow for a follow-up attack. You can also pause time manually at any moment, allowing you to think over your next move if you're starting to get overwhelmed, which is a very important feature. Sometimes a tight situation can be escaped without harm befalling your heroes if you stop to think about all of your options. Maybe there's a spell you could use to thin out the crowd, or an element combination to buy your heroes time to recharge their melee, or a hero has an ability that you might be able to take advantage of at that very moment? This is not even to mention the combo system or the backstab system, which I won't go into detail about because this segment is long enough as it is.

On top of it's deeply strategic gameplay, Has-Been Heroes has really nice graphics. The characters all have solid designs that scream "fantasy" without appearing like stock assets. The enemy designs all range from tough-looking to silly-looking with enough distinction between similar-looking enemies to help you remember how they function, such as how enemies that carry long-looking weapons have a longer attack range. The backgrounds are all very visually pleasant, especially considering that one-third of the screen is taken up by the UI and another one-third is taken up by the ground.

The writing is also really enjoyable. While it isn't particularly mind-blowing and the character backstories are only shared by random dialogue exchanges, what exists is really pleasant. Most of the writing is humor-oriented, such as how the main premise is that the heroes were called upon by King Fortinbrax to escort the twin princesses to school, but the game does have its moments of seriousness. Each character has a distinct personality and interests, and the dialogue does a great job of conveying them. The were-tiger Kedi loves nature, the bodyguard Zakwas is vigilant to the point of paranoia, the wrestler Florencio is also an anthropologist, et cetera. Even the non-playable twin princesses have defined personalities. My favorite of the two is easily Princess Avaline; she's just so precious. In contrast with her sister Beatrix, who is very cheerful and energetic, Avaline is more stoic and reserved. I have to hand it to Frozenbyte, it's rare for a game to have a goth character - let alone one that isn't just a stereotype - so I really appreciate Avaline's presence.

Recently, Has-Been Heroes received a quite large update that added new modes, nine new heroes (technically twelve, but three are exclusive to one of the new modes), a new area, and hundreds of new items and spells. If it wasn't worth $20 before, it certainly is now.

It's a no-brainer here. Has-Been Heroes easily wins Strategy Game of the Year. Also, I'm giving it the award for Most Precious Princess, because Avaline is just so adorable.

Before we get to my game of the year, I'd like to give mention to a few games that also deserve recognition which I didn't have quite as much to say as I did with the other games on this list. This is more or less an honorable mention segment, even more so than the rest of this list.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

While I will acknowledge that Breath of the Wild is a really well-made game, I found too many things wrong with it to feel it deserves to be called the best game to come out this year - let alone the best game ever, as some people are touting it. It's awesome to have such an open Zelda game to explore in, but I don't fully agree with how such openness was achieved.

That's not to say it won't get any awards here today, though. Breath of the Wild wins the award for Most Infuriating Rain Mechanic and the award for Biggest Jerk to Completionists. Okay, okay, now it sounds like I hate the game, so let's give it a real one: Most Open Game.

Horizon: Zero Dawn.

To be frank, I think Horizon: Zero Dawn blows Breath of the Wild out of the water - and I say that as a lifelong Zelda fan. Where Breath of the Wild feels like its grandness is a facade, Zero Dawn actually is grand. That said, I never actually played it (it was either this or Zelda for me). Everything I know about the game is second-hand experience.

Horizon: Zero Dawn wins Open World Game of the Year.

A Hat in Time.

Again, I personally never played A Hat in Time, but I know enough about it to say that it's a phenomenal game. Pleasant graphics and music, very humorous writing, and rock-solid gameplay and game design, all put together by a very small team of developers. A Hat in Time is to Yooka-Layle what Horizon: Zero Dawn is to Breath of the Wild - though, that's not saying that one is good and the other is bad, just that one is clearly superior to the other.

Let's say that A Hat in Time wins Best Loading Screens, Least Headache-Inducing Story Involving Time Travel, and Most Likely to Control Smoothly.

Super Mario Odyssey.

Really, Super Mario Odyssey is just an honorable mention because I haven't spent enough time with it to solidify my opinion of it. The game has been very enjoyable, of course, but I haven't been able to spend to really dig into it and write anything meaningful about it.

Is it really a surprise that Super Mario Odyssey wins the award for Collectathon of the Year? Well, A Hat in Time came pretty close, so if you played that, you might be a little surprised.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Again, the main reason that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is an honorable mention is because I haven't spent nearly enough time with it. I have really been enjoying what I have played, though, so it's definitely a good game.

I don't feel fully confident giving Xenoblade the title of RPG of the Year, so I'll just give it the award for Most Surprisingly Good Game of the Year. Yeah, I honestly didn't go into it thinking it'd be as good as it is. I don't put a lot of faith in JRPGS...

Game of the Year: ARMS.

As much as I love and appreciate Has-Been Heroes, ARMS easily wins Game of the Year from me; there's just nothing like it. ARMS is Nintendo's newest IP in which players control fighters with stretchable arms. While it might initially look like Wii Sports Boxing with a fresh coat of paint, ARMS is so much more than that. Out of all of the games I got this year, ARMS is the one I've gone back to the most - yes, even more than Breath of the Wild. Despite the fact that I've spent more hours playing Breath of the Wild, I've never felt the urge to revisit it like I do with ARMS. I could be kicking back, watching a video, and I'll suddenly think to myself, "man, I should play some ARMS right now."

The roster is diverse, with each character having distinct designs and special abilities, and their own signature set of "Arm" weapons that they can switch out between rounds. Unlike how some other fighting games have a bunch of very similar characters, each fighter in ARMS is visually and mechanically distinct - with only a couple of exceptions. From the Little Mac-esq Springman, who can deflect punches with energy shockwaves; to the beefy Master Mummy, who doesn't flinch from most attacks; the goopy, goofy slime-man Helix, who can stretch and shrink his body; the internet-breaking, feud-starting Twintelle, who can slow time; and my personal favorite, Min Min, the noodle-based fighter who can turn her left arm into a dragon; it's clear that ARMS doesn't lack imagination.

At the start of a match, the player chooses two "Arm" gloves out of their three Arm loadout to equip - one on each hand - as their methods of attack. Each Arm has its own stats, such as punch speed, trajectory, and weight. Heavier Arms can punch through lighter Arms uninhibited, knocking down the light Arm in the process. Of course, lighter Arms have the trade-off of being faster, and often have multiple projectiles to them. The player can charge up their Arms during battle to boost their damage output and give them a bonus depending on their element; Fire Arms can knock down their target with a single punch, Ice Arms can slow down their target for a few seconds, et cetera.

Instead of each fighter having their own unique super move that they build up energy for over the course of the match, everyone has the same super: the Rush Attack. Once activated, the player can unleash a flurry of light attacks, several moderately powerful attacks, or one very powerful attack. Which one the player uses depends on what Arms they have equipped. The boxing glove-like Toaster will allow several attacks, while the beam-spitting Ice Dragon only allows for one powerful hit - two, if the user is lucky. Because of this, it's important to keep in mind what sort of Rush Attack an Arm will have when planning a loadout. Two Toasters can easily take full advantage of a successful Rush, while it's harder for two Megatons to do the same.

The gameplay is skill-based, while at the same time, isn't heavily reliant on hours and hours of practice. Since each fighter only has two arms to punch with and has to wait for them to retract before attacking again, matches in ARMS aren't won by pulling off insane multi-hit combos; they're won by carefully avoiding your opponents hits and finding the right opportunity to attack. Rather than learning the best combos, the player must spend their time training their ability to predict their opponent and react appropriately. I myself have actually gotten rather good at ARMS. I was able to reach Rank 15 in the online competitive mode, which used to be the max Rank before the developers increased it to 20. I usually never touch a fighting game's online mode - let alone it's competitive mode - so this serves as excellent proof of how accessible a game ARMS is.

The biggest flaw of ARMS is its lack of in-game lore. Its got good lore, it's just not in-game, which is never a good thing for a game to do (I'm looking at you again, Overwatch! That's strike two!). The only official source of ARMS's lore is its Japanese Twitter. The developers are still supporting the game with new content, so we can only hope that some sort of story mode will be added in the future.

As I already mentioned, ARMS wins my Game of the Year award. It also wins the award for being The Only Game Where I Cared About Ranked Mode, and Min Min wins the award for Best Noodle-Based Character.

Image Sources:

Metroid Samus Returns - Wikitroid: http://metroid.wikia.com/wiki/Metroid:_Samus_Returns

Fight'N Rage - Official Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/674520/FightN_Rage/

Gigantic - Official Steam Store Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327690/Gigantic/

Has-Been Heroes - Nintendo Wiki: http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/Has-Been_Heroes

ARMS - ARMS Institute: https://armswiki.org/wiki/ARMS_(game)