You could take the beaten path, but there's a tough enemy over there.
Not only can the player go anywhere from the start (including the final boss!), but they get to decide how to get there. But what Breath of the Wild does get right, perhaps more than any other video game before, is giving the player freedom. The dungeons are woefully short, and the story in particular leaves a lot to be desired. This is not because Breath of the Wild is a perfect game.
The Legend of Zelda is my favorite series of all time, and Breath of the Wild now sits comfortably at the top of that series, not just as my favorite Zelda game, but as my favorite game of all time, PERIOD. With discoveries to be made at every turn, a colorful world with a ton of personality, and a plethora of delightful platforming challenges thrown in, Super Mario Odyssey returns to the sandbox platformer in style! #1: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild In any other year, this game would have easily taken the cake for game of the year. Not only is it drop-dead gorgeous, but it boasts a believable cast in an engrossing story, and a combat system that will keep you on your toes. If Breath of the Wild is the dawn of the new open-world game, Horizon: Zero Dawn is the perfection of the traditional open-world game. I fear this game will be overshadowed by everything else that came out this year, which is a shame! Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, while a remake of the second Fire Emblem game on the NES, feels fresh and exciting, and for that reason, it's my favorite game in the series. #4: Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentina Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the same great game that graced the Wii U, but with a new-and-improved battle mode, and the ability to take it anywhere.
While Mario Kart 8 Deluxe doesn't differ too much from the original Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, the ability to take my favorite multiplayer game ever on the go with me, and have two controllers, was a revelation for me. Yes, it's a weird crossover, but it somehow works! Mario+Rabbids: Kingdom Battle will give you a legitimate tactical challenge, forcing you to really think about every move and how to position characters, all while listening to Grant Kirtkhope's excellent score. The game that got me to enjoy an online shooter has done it again with the faithful sequel, Splatoon 2! While not changing too much from the original, Splatoon 2 builds off of it with the same basic premise of covering your turf with ink, along with an incredibly tense horde mode, an equally whimsical single-player campaign, and weekly additions of weapons, stages, and modes that will continue into summer of next year.
The game is full of charm, and you and your friend will have a laugh seeing the wacky ways you solve these deceptively cute challenges. This fun little game has you and a friend cut each other into shapes to solve a myriad of clever puzzles.
Still, people online have figured it out as well, and many of them are forces to be reckoned with, if you dare compete with them.
While ARMS isn't the most complex fighter out there, it's a pure adrenaline rush up to the point where you figure it out. So rather than have the staff vote on the top 10 best, we instead decided to have a few writers come together to give their personal top 10 best games of 2017! We hope you enjoy these lists as much as we enjoyed playing the games in them.