There are tons of great-looking
video games coming out in 2017. Many of these are western releases, but a huge
number of fantastic titles are coming out of Japan also. In fact, many of my
most hotly-anticipated games are Japanese this year.
In any case, here's a list of all
the best (or at least most important) video games currently announced for a
2017 release. I'm putting them in alphabetical order and including trailers
whenever possible. I'll keep this list updated with other important releases as
well.
Take a look and let me know which
of these video games you're excited about.
Arms - One of the Nintendo
Switch's first releases,
Arms is a boxing game that uses both button and motion
controls. Fighters have boxing gloves and long, spring arms and duke it out in
a ring. It looks novel, as far as fighting games go, and exactly the sort of
quirky little game that Nintendo would come up with.
Berserk and the Band of the Hawk
- The game based off the popular, and uber-violent, manga is a spin-off of the
also popular Dynasty Warriors franchise. I admit, I kind of wish it were a
rip-off of Dark Souls rather than the hack-and-slash chaos of Dynasty Warriors,
but that's probably just a personal bias. Maybe I'm just not that much of a
Dynasty Warriors fan.
Call of Cthulhu - A Gothic,
Lovecraftian mystery and psychological horror game from Cyanide Studios. Could
be great, could be "meh." But I like the trailer.
Dark Souls III: The Ringed City -
The final DLC for the Dark Souls franchise takes the player to the Ringed City,
at the end of the Age of Fire, at the edge of the world.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 - The
follow-up to the original Divinity: Original Sin which was one of the most
charming, clever role-playing games to come out in years. Divinity: Original
Sin 2 looks to expand on everything that made the original so great with better
graphics, a bigger world, and more choices. If you can't control your hype for
this one, nobody will blame you.
Dragon Quest Heroes II - Fresh
off the heals of the amazing Dragon Quest Builders, Dragon Quest Heroes 2 is
described as a "hack-and-slash, field-roaming action RPG that sends
players on a new adventure to restore order in a once peaceful world filled
with hordes of monsters and battles of epic proportions." Sounds good to
me. I like the more cartoony, less-serious style here. It's a nice contrast to
something like Final Fantasy.
Dynasty Warriors 9 - Finally a
fully open-world Dynasty Warriors game. Dynasty Warriors 9 promises to be the
biggest, best-looking in the long-running epic action franchise.
Fire Emblem Echoes - A
"re-imagining" of the second Fire Emblem game (Fire Emblem Gaiden)
Echoes comes to the 3DS surprisingly soon after the launch of Fire Emblem Fates
last year. But we're not complaining. The more Fire Emblem the better. The game
looks to diverge from the modern entries in the series, with some
dungeon-crawling and no marriage mechanic.
Fire Emblem Heroes - The first
Fire Emblem mobile game, and the second major mobile release from Nintendo (not
counting Pokemon GO) this one is sure to be controversial. I think it looks
like a pretty good take on the turn-based fantasy RPG. The free-to-play game is
coming to both Android and iOS, and is basically a scaled-down version of a
regular, core Fire Emblem title.
Fire Emblem Warriors - This
Dynasty Warriors spinoff follows in the footsteps of Hyrule Warriors on the Wii
U by taking the Fire Emblem universe and cast of characters and inserting it
into the massive-scale action combat of the Warriors series. It should be good,
mindless fun, if not the tactical goodness of a core Fire Emblem game.
The Flame in the Flood - A girl
and her dog survive in a roguelike wilderness by raft and over land, scrounging
for resources, setting up camp, and evading predators like huge bears. Cool
art-style and a great trailer for its PS4 release.
For Honor - Knights, Vikings and
Samurai do glorious battle in this quirky multiplayer title from Ubisoft. If
you like action fighting games with a touch of MOBA, this might be the game for
you. I've played the alpha, but am waiting for the upcoming beta and full
release to offer up any sort of valuable judgment. It's a great concept, but so
much hinges on how satisfying the combat ends up being.
Friday the 13th - Play as Jason
Voorhees or one of a handful of camp counselors in a multiplayer, asymmetrical
PvP horror survival game.
Ghost Recon Wildlands - A vast
open-world, anti-cartel special forces game, Ghost Recon Wildlands will either
restore our faith in open-world gaming or turn out to be just another in
Ubisoft's long line of overly similar, repetitive titles. I'll be honest, it's
just really hard to know what to expect from this one. There's definitely hints
of The Division in here, but there's not much of what I would consider Ghost
Recon. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised.
Gravity Rush 2 - The follow-up to
the PS Vita's original gravity-bending action game, Gravity Rush 2 is already
getting pretty good, if not totally amazing, reviews. (It's 79/100 on Open
Critic.) I've played the demo, and while I love the art-style, I'm still not
sold on the gameplay itself---either because I need more time to master the
controls, or because floating around while manipulating gravity is actually
kind of clunky. Either way, this is a big game with lots of content and a
fascinating twist on action combat.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Telltale
Series - Say what you will about the Telltale games---at best they're
compelling narratives with interesting choices; at worst they're clunky attempts
to blend gameplay and cinema---but I'm still excited for a Telltale version of
Guardians of the Galaxy, my very favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.
Halo Wars 2 - The second
real-time strategy game in the Halo franchise, Halo Wars 2 has already been
getting a bunch of hype as a return to the classics of the genre. Anyone who
enjoyed playing Command & Conquer and wishes there were a similar game for
Xbox One will probably find lots to love here. It's also one of the only major
exclusives coming to Microsoft's console.
Hitman: The Complete First Season
-
The new Hitman game was released throughout 2016 as a series of
self-contained episodes. Now you can get all of those in one package. I was
really impressed by this Hitman and anyone who loves stealth games should
really check it out. Just watching this trailer makes me want to dive back in
and play the episodes I missed.
Horizon Zero Dawn - I've been a
skeptic about Horizon Zero Dawn for awhile now, probably just to keep my
expectations in check to avoid disappointment. But the latest story trailer for
the game won me over and now I can't wait for the PS4 exclusive from Killzone
developer Guerrilla Games. I mean, it has robot dinosaurs and a female
protagonist with some of the best hair in video games. What's not to love?
Injustice 2 - The premiere DC
Comics fighting game returns to modern consoles with bigger and better graphics
and a whole bunch of superheroes and villains to choose from. Should be fun.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance - A
realistic, first-person Medieval RPG. No magic, no dragons, no fantasy. The
game is designed to immerse players in a gritty European world that eschews the
fantastical for the historical. Echoes of Mount & Blade with much better-looking
graphics. Hopefully this one will come out in 2017.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of
the Wild - Easily one of the most hotly-anticipated titles of the year, this
one's coming to both the Wii U and the brand new Nintendo Switch. The game
borrows some of the art-style of Wind Waker, and is the first truly open-world
Zelda game. It makes other changes as well, including stat-based weapons. It
looks awesome.
Lego Worlds - Following in the
footsteps of games like Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builders, this is a LEGO
sandbox game. Gone are the story-driven elements of most LEGO video games.
Instead, players can just build to their heart's content.
Lords of the Fallen 2 - I was
fairly mixed on the original Lords of the Fallen. It was a Souls-style
action-RPG that borrowed some of that game's mechanics but none of its cold,
dark heart. There's very little about the sequel in the news, and with big
changes in direction and the loss of the lead producer, this one's very much up
in the air. It's slated for a 2017 release, but who knows if that will happen.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - New
characters and a new battle mode, plus 1080p resolution, make this a
"deluxe" version of the game that came out for Wii U in 2015. Easily
my favorite Mario Kart game, I'm excited to play the new battle mode with
Splatoon characters. I do wish that there were new tracks, or a Mario Kart 9
was in the offing, though.
Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite -
Marvel superheroes vs. Capcom video game characters. It's another fighting game
in the vein of Street Fighter and Marvel's answer to Injustice 2.
Mass Effect Andromeda - A new
Mass Effect that leaves the original trilogy behind (millions of light-years
behind, actually). This time around you play as a new non-Shepard character
exploring the vast and dangerous Andromeda system. The game uses the Frostbite
4 engine and looks gorgeous. The question is whether it will have great
characters like the original trilogy---and whether its story will be satisfying.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom -
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was a terrific video game realization of a
Studio Ghibli world, but it had tedious combat. I'm hoping the sequel will have
all the charm of the original but with better balance between story and
gameplay. It sure looks amazing!
Nier Automata - Platinum Games'
weird cyborg action game is amazing---or at least, the demo of the game is
amazing. The game itself certainly seems to be shaping up into something truly
special. Fast, frenetic combat in a weird, dystopian sci-fi world; crazy use of
shifting perspective; huge boss fights---what's not to love?
Nintendo Switch - I'm including
hardware since there's some big hardware releases in 2017, and the first of
those is the Nintendo Switch. It's a hybrid portable and home console that can
be played at home hooked up to a TV or on the go. And it looks pretty great,
honestly. I have some concerns, of course, but I'm rooting for this to succeed.
Nioh - This is one of my most
highly-anticipated games of the year. It's a Samurai game that takes a bunch of
lessons from Dark Souls and then does a lot of new things with them like
introducing different fighting stances, black-powder guns, and much more. I've
played three demos of the game, and each one has been incredible---though it's
not for the faint-hearted.
Persona 5 - If you've ever played
a Persona game you'll already know how excited you should be about the release
of Persona 5. I'm a latecomer to the franchise, starting with Persona 4 Golden
on the PS Vita. It took me a while to get into the game, but once I did I was
hooked. Between the almost mundane management of day-to-day stuff and the
demon-slaying and dungeon-crawling this is just a wholly unique JRPG.
Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World
- The 3DS version of Yoshi's Woolly World has all that game's levels but
introduces more Poochy gameplay. A fun little platformer.
Prey - A cross between Half-Life
2 and Alien, Prey looks absolutely fantastic. It's a sci-fi thriller shooter
set in a creepy space station that looks like it has as much puzzling as it
does shooting. Very excited about this one.
Red Dead Redemption 2 - The
long-awaited sequel to Red Dead Redemption is finally coming to PS4 and Xbox
One. We don't know much about it yet, but we do know it's going to be amazing.
Another big open-world Western from the makers of Grand Theft Auto, I just hope
that this time around there's less cattle-herding.
Resident Evil 7 Biohazard - A
major change of pace for the Resident Evil franchise, Biohazard is a
first-person horror game with little in the way of shooting guns, and lots of
running away and hiding. It looks actually scary, too, and has a VR game mode.
Rime - Once a PS4 exclusive, Rime
is now a multi-platform adventure and puzzle game. Hooray! The indie game looks
(and sounds) gorgeous. I don't even care what it's about, I just want to visit
this world. (Of course, I included this on my top games list of 2015, so it's
been a long time coming thanks to delays and other issues. Hopefully the final
product is as amazing as it looks.)
South Park: The Fractured But
Whole - I loved the buggy, hilarious South Park: The Stick of Truth RPG. It was
everything great about South Park in a ludicrous, and hugely entertaining,
video game. This one looks like more of the same, and I mean that in a good
way.
Splatoon 2 - Speaking of
"more of the same" that's pretty much what Splatoon 2 looks like,
though it won't utilize a second screen in the same way the Wii U version did.
Splatoon is Nintendo's latest shooter franchise, and pits teams of players
against one another in paint shootouts. It's a very Nintendo sort of shooter,
and the sequel looks like fun.
Star Citizen - The king of
crowdfunding probably won't come out in 2017---it's already been delayed
plenty---but we can always dream can't we? This space sim has captured the
imagination of thousands of gamers and raised tens of millions in crowdfunding.
Let's hope the final release lives up to the big promises.
Styx: Shards of Darkness - The
sequel to Styx: Master of Shadows, this one looks like a pretty big improvement
in just about every way. If you like fantasy stealth games, of which there are
too few, Shards of Darkness may be the game for you.
Super Mario Odyssey - This
weird-looking open-world Mario game is the first Mario title coming to the
Nintendo Switch. All I have to say is that New Donk City looks like an
excellent and super strange new location for our favorite plumber to explore.
Tales of Berseria - The 16th game
in the Tales series, Tales of Berseria is a JRPG that features action combat
and a dark story of revenge in a demon-infested world. I've played some of the
game already and like it quite a bit. Not the best-looking JRPG coming out in
2017 but really intriguing story.
Tekken 7 - The return of the
classic fighting game for its seventh main entry. It looks very pretty.
The Bard's Tale IV - Torment:
Tides of Numenera developer is picking up this long-dormant RPG and...well, there's
not much to go on just yet, so take the 2017 release with a grain of salt.
Still, this is a pretty trailer with nice Gaelic music.
Torment: Tides of Numenera - Hey,
speak of the devil! inXile's massive crowd-funded game based on Monte Cook's
pen-and-paper RPG is finally upon us. The heavily story-driven game (prepare to
read a bunch!) is the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment. Very exciting
indeed.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy - The
first Uncharted game not starring Nathan Drake, The Lost Legacy is both DLC and
a stand-alone game, so you don't need Uncharted 4 to play it. It takes a
different approach to the franchise than Drake's escapades, and I for one am
really intrigued by what exactly that entails.
Valkyria Revolution - A spin-off
from the Valkyria Chronicles games, this one takes place in an alternative
universe and ditches turn-based combat in favor of action. I'm not sure how to
feel about that, given how great Valkyria Chronicles is, but it could be cool
still.
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn Of War III
- There are too many Warhammer games out there, but another in the Dawn of War
series is very welcome. Real-time strategy games are fun, and Dawn of War has
always done this kind of large-scale battle really well.
Xbox Scorpio - Code-named the
"Scorpio," this is Microsoft's version of the PS4 Pro---a beefier,
faster, more amazing take on the Xbox One. At this point, I honestly think
Microsoft should just release a brand new Xbox that blows the PS4 out of the
water, but I guess we live in iterative times.
Yakuza 0 - The prequel to the
long-running Japanese crime game franchise, Yakuza 0 is already generating a
ton of buzz. I've played it and love the combat, but haven't gotten far enough
into the game to say much else. Either way, by all accounts this is one you
won't want to miss.
Yooka-Laylee - A cute platformer
that hearkens back to the best platformer games of Ye Olden Times, Yooka-Laylee
looks pretty adorable and fun, and is being made by developers who worked on
Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country.
1-2-Switch - The first-party game
for the Nintendo Switch. Alas, it isn't a pack-in and you have to pay $50 for
it separately. That's a mistake, but hopefully this will have lots of fun
mini-games that make use of the new console.
I'll add more games to this list
as they're announced. Obviously some big ones---Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed,
Skylanders, etc.---are coming out this year but haven't been announced. Stay
tuned, and please let me know if something is missing and I'll add it straight
away. There are likely other games that I'm simply not familiar with that
didn't make the list, and I'm more than happy to take a look at new titles and
edit them in.
Thanks! And Have a good day!