I'm a big fan of the opening monologue in NieR: Automata.

"Everything that lives is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle...and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him."

It's such a great hook, and it stuck with me throughout the whole game. What ends up making it so good isn't that its well-written or sets the tone or anything like the other examples posted here, but rather how this quote develops over the course of your playthroughs. Several games begin with a quote that gains meaning or clarity later on (starting with "is this a dream???" and later on learning that it is indeed a dream is a common cliche), but none stick out in my mind as going through several meanings and developments, each interpretation just as valid and impactful as the previous.

I'm not huge into JRPGs in general, so I'll avoid pointing out ones "I didn't think were as good as most people though" (since that's most of them), but I do think it means that I can point out ones I think are underappreciated.

Final Fantasy 8. Yes, the story has some pacing issues. The "orphanage scene" is dumb. The battle system is convoluted. But, despite all of these issues, FF8 is my favorite FF game. The art direction and music are some of the best in any RPG, the combat system is incredibly flexible and rewards creative play over brute force and grinding, and, while I may get flak for this one, Squall and Rinoa's romance is one of the most charming "couple stories" in games.

Xenogears is the very definition of a flawed masterpiece. The random encounters are a slog, the platforming elements are atrocious, the characters are largely throwaway, the story is horrifically paced, and really the entire game is a mess of elements that fail to come together in any meaningful way. Despite all of these issues however, Xenogears is incredible for what it tries to do. It is the single most ambitious storyline I have ever seen in any "single entry" piece of media, period. The magnitude of its scale, the depth of its lore, the ingenuity of its themes....it really is something special. Playing the game will leave you walking away unsatisfied. But as you sit there thinking about it, you'll really gain an appreciate for all that they did, and all that they went for. If there is one game that deserves a proper remake, it is Xenogears. A finished Xenogears would be the pinnacle of storytelling in video games.

I'm a huge fan of 3D platformers, and I loved this game. While I wouldn't put it on the same tier as masterpieces like SM64, I would put it on the same tier as "flawed, unique gems" like Psychonauts and Battle for Bikini Bottom. It oozes personality and charm, and I loved every minute of the 10 hours it took to 100% it. My third favorite game this year, despite how insane 2017 has been. Its a shame that it was overshadowed by both "indie darling Cuphead" and "3D platformer Odyssey," but I really hope it did well enough for Gears 4 Breakfast to keep going. The game is excellent, and a more polished, rounded sequel could potentially break into Tier 1

AAA linear games are definitely a dying breed, although they aren't a dead one quite yet. I feel like a pretty obvious reason for this trend is to increase the "value" (i.e. playtime) of a game. How many times do you go on the internet and see "oh this game was excellent, but it was only 6 hours for $60, not worth picking up until it goes on sale." This sentiment is a fairly common one, and one that developers and publishers most definitely see.

"People want a lot of playtime for their $60 investment." Playtime is an easy metric of "value," so its easier to chase than, say, making an actually good video game. Between open-world and linear, it is MUCH easier to elongate playtime with the former by virtue of its design. Even if its the same amount of space, you'll spend more time in an open world - how many times have you looked at shelves and noticed all the detail in the books and utensils on them in a Call of Duty campaign? Now how long have you spent staring at shelves and menus in The Elder Scrolls as you look for crafting materials?

I've done this recently as well. There's always some wonderful about replaying a game from the past. Even if I've never played it during my childhood, seeing the quirks of the era again is neat

A Xenoblade HD Collection would be pretty swell - those games are the kind that would really benefit from a remaster, since their technical shortcomings are noticeable due to the art style.

An Okami version isn't necessary, but hey, I'll buy it. I've bought and played that game every time it comes out, I won't stop now.

In terms of sequels, Zack & Wiki would be great! That game was really underrated, and it could make great use of some joycon gimmicks in the puzzles. Maybe use HD rumble to "pick a lock" or something?

Over the weekend, I gorged myself on "A Hat in Time." I usually take my time with games, but here I pushed aside real life for a couple days to 100% the game. I've been anticipating this game for three years now, but it somehow managed to exceed my expectations.

Playing AHIT felt like playing a game from my childhood for the first time. It is a really strange feeling to have nostalgia for something you are playing for the first time, but that is what happened. While a lot of other games that prey on nostalgia make "another version of that thing you grew up with," A Hat in Time is a "new game that is like how you remember these old games being." The emotions and memories you associate with Mario Sunshine and Psychonauts - the joy of exploration, the whimsical characters and scenarios, the jolly setting, the sheer fun of jumping around - can be found here, rather than actual characters, settings, or concepts being reused. It's like Shovel Knight, but for those of us who grew up with N64s and Gamecubes rather than NESs.

It's the best 3D platformer in over a decade, which admittedly isn't that big a feat considering that the genre hasn't seen a good entry since 2007 (Galaxy), and the collect-a-thon hasn't seen a good one since 2005 (Psychonauts), but still. It may not have the polish of a Sunshine, but it has heart, soul, and charm that puts even most of Nintendo's games to shame at times. I HIGHLY recommend it to anybody who grew up loving the 3D mascot platformer. AHAT is realistically only going to be behind Zelda and Mario for my GOTY, and any other year it would be my top picl

I'm seeing some love for A Hat in Time here, and I just want to toss my hat in the circle too. I've completed the game, and I think Mafia Town (World 1) is one of the best-designed stages in any 3D platformer I've ever played.

The boatload of charm of whimsy aside, the world manages to excel in movement. Fluid movement is key to any good platformer, and one of the big advantages of 3D over 2D platformers in this regard are the multiple decisions on how to platform. In order to cross a gap, you can do a long jump-slide, you can climb the roofs and hop over, you can jump off some balloons, you can go high, you can go low, you can use umbrellas to gain height then over, etc. Every time you go from point A to point B in that level is a new experience, where the level is your toybox, and your moveset is your toolkit. Mafia Town even manages to top many of the Mario 64 and Sunshine worlds in this regard.

Its the type of thing where, when watching a video, you won't "get" it, but when you play the game and your brain is making all of these micro-decisions on how to move every second, you'll see how huge the impact of this small-scale freedom can be

I've given up on having a single "favorite game of all time," although when prodded my response typically falls to MGS2. For a while now, my top games have been LoZ: OoT, Okami, MGS2, and DkS1 - whatever tops that list changes depending on my mood. In 2017 though, that list has now been expanded to include BOTW.

As you can probably tell from the not-MGS2 parts of the list, I love a good adventure. If you are willing to let it sink its hooks into you and play how it wants you to play (i.e. ditch the "completionist" mentality in favor of straight-up exploring), BOTW is simply the best adventure in gaming. Its the first game to make me truly feel like I was adventuring since I played OoT as a kid. In that sense, despite having the least in common with any 3D Zeldas, BOTW was really nostalgic in that sense. It has its issues, and it isn't a perfectly designed little bundle like an MGS2 or SOTC, but I love that adventure.

There is an extremely high chance I will love the new Metro game, and it will probably be my favorite single-player FPS this console generation. Despite being "post-apocalyptic first-person shooters," the prior two games really had this unique identity to them. The atmosphere and pacing were just top-notch.

But there is no planet where Metro Exodus becomes more fondly received than DOOM 2016. Metro simply fills a smaller niche. DOOM is a fast-paced, frantic game with awesome mechanics that makes you feel like a badass. Metro is a slow, atmospheric walk with intentionally slow shooting mechanics. Plus, 4A games won't be able to reach that same level of polish as something like a Bethesda can, they simply don't have the cash