The number 2017 doesn’t make any sense as a year, and yet here we are, living well beyond the future we always envisioned, but still beholden to the same forces, influences and impulses that have always overwhelmed us. 2017 is the year were stuck with, and it’s as good a time as any to talk about videogames.
2017 will bring us a new Nintendo console. It will give us a clearer picture of VR’s future. It will probably give us more hints at what’s next for Sony and Microsoft’s hardware, even though both just released updated new consoles a few months ago. It will definitely drown us once again in games from all directions, arriving every week for our computers, phones and game boxes, with more flowing out than any one person or team of people could ever hope to manage. Unless the world comes to an end, of course, which we really can’t rule out at this point. Yeah, 2017’s a good year, a true buddy and pal, and hopefully we can stay on its good side. These ten games will probably help.
Cuphead
Platforms: PC, Xbox One
Release: To Be Announced
Old school cartoons are what you might call my jam. I have spent hundreds of dollars hunting down and collecting DVD compilations of the era, and as many hours building YouTube playlists where licensing issues have stood in my way. Something about the Tex Avery-Max Fleischer-1930s Disney period of animation is comforting and to see the art style so perfectly captured in videogame form is awe-inspiring and irresistibly appealing. On looks alone, I’m in love with Cuphead.—Holly Green
Horizon Zero Dawn
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Release: Feb. 28, 2017
I can sum up the appeal of Horizon Zero Dawn in only two words: robot dinosaurs. Sure, there’s a lot to look forward to about the upcoming PlayStation 4 game: the female protagonist, the sophisticated hunting system, the gorgeous mountain setting. But also, robot dinosaurs. I like the idea so much, I’m finally going to buy a PS4.—Holly Green
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release: March 21, 2017
I’m normally not into sprawling sci-fi epics. Yeah, I liked the even numbered Star Trek movies (up through the one with Christopher Plummer, at least), but could never make it through an episode of any of the non-Shatner shows. The books can get bent, outside of certain book covers from decades past, and literally any other sci-fi show you can toss out at me is a complete non-starter, unless it involves Scott Bakula possessing a different body every week. Outside of Star Wars, which is as much fantasy as sci-fi, the only massive multimedia sci-fi boondoogle I’ve been able to stomach is Mass Effect. Mass Effect 2, especially, is one of the best games ever made, an almost perfect blockbuster with the presentation of a film, the interactivity of a game and the depth of a novel. Mass Effect 3 was almost as good. I’ve avoided all the Andromeda promotion outside of a couple of trailers, so I have no idea what to expect, but the simple fact that Bioware is working in this universe again is enough to entice me.—Garrett Martin
Night in the Woods
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Mac
Release: February 2017
Paste has been writing about Night in the Woods for years, but if all holds out we’ll finally have it installed on our game-playing devices of choice by the end of February. Based on the snippets we’ve played at various events, Night in the Woods seems to be more concerned with the real world that we live in today more than maybe any other recent game. That realism might seem in contrast to its adorable animal characters, but that cartoon aesthetic is a vital part of making this story of change and aging feel so powerful and universal. —Garrett Martin
Pyre
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4
Release: To Be Announced
Supergiant Games is two for two so far, with 2011’s Bastion still looming large as one of the best games of the decade, and 2014’s Transistor remaining a must-play. I have not seen Pyre in action. I have not read anything about it other than the blurb in this list that I edited last year. All I needed to hear was that it’s by Supergiant and that it’s some kind of sports game in a fantasy setting using magic instead of a ball or puck. These are things that appeal to me. These few facts are very much within my circle of interests. I will play Pyre as soon as I am able to, and perchance I will dig it.—Garrett Martin
Red Dead Redemption 2
Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release: To Be Announced
I never got around to playing the original Red Dead games, but the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 could not be timed better. I’m worn out on all the first person shooters set in decaying city ruins and post apocalyptic suburbs. I’m ready for a Western, something tough and gritty, like Deadwood (only a thousand times more interesting). The lawless frontier is the perfect setting for a (literal) sandbox game, and few development studios do open world games quite as well as Rockstar, making Red Dead Redemption 2 one of the most promising releases of 2017.—Holly Green
Tacoma
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Mac
Release: To Be Announced
Fullbright’s follow-up to Gone Home has been a long time coming, but by all accounts it should finally be here at some point in the first half of 2017. We’ve been waiting to see how their storytelling abilities carry over to Tacoma’s sci-fi setting for years. Can they tell a story in space as human and affecting as the one set in 1990s Oregon? Can they create a space station that feels lived in and that doesn’t feel like any of the many other space stations we’ve seen in games and movies before? Or is Fullbright headed in an entirely different direction? Hopefully we’ll be able to find out soon.—Garrett Martin
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Platforms: Wii U, Switch
Release: To Be Announced
Nintendo may be the underdog in consoles when it comes to graphics, but the Legend of Zelda games still get more beautiful with each iteration. With every release I find myself worn out by the game’s endless development cycle, only to get pulled back in by the nostalgic joy of seeing Link in a more stunning environment. At 12 times the size of the Twilight Princess map, Breath of the Wild will be the biggest Legend of Zelda game yet, arguably acting as the series’ final push towards true open world gameplay.—Holly Green
The Long Dark (official release/story mode)
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Mac
Release: Already in Early Access / Xbox One Game Preview; Update To Be Announced
The Long Dark is the pure survival game that fans of the genre have been waiting for, its sandbox mode intriguing and the still indifference of the Canadian wilderness pleasant, even as they are terrifying. But by now I’m ready to learn the secrets of The Long Dark. I’ve been playing in Early Access on Steam for years, and while it’s been fun, it’s time to find out why its frozen world is devoid of human life, and who might be responsible. The Story Mode, part of the upcoming full release of the game, promises to tell all, making it among my most anticipated titles of 2017.—Holly Green
Vampyr
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Release: To Be Announced
I’m doing it again: I’m getting excited about a game pretty much just because of the people who make it. Dontnod’s next game wouldn’t make it on this list solely because it’s by Dontnod, though; it also has an interesting setting that hasn’t been often explored in games, and it has a unique angle on vampirism that might open up some innovative opportunities for play and interaction. I didn’t love Dontnod’s last game, Life is Strange, but as with 2013’s Remember Me, I deeply admired and respected it. Even before I heard they were making a game set in London during the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, a game where you’re a vampire who can infect any other character and as reluctantly or willingly as you choose, I was excited to see where Dontnod would go next. As with sci-fi, I’m not a vampire junkie, but between the concept and the developer, Vampyr is one of 2017’s more intriguing prospects.—Garrett Martin
Garrett Martin edits Paste’s games, comedy and wrestling sections. He’s on Twitter @grmartin.
Holly Green is a reporter, editor, and semiprofessional photographer living in Seattle, WA. She is also the author of Fry Scores: An Unofficial Guide To Video Game Grub. You can find her work at Gamasutra, Polygon, Unwinnable, and other videogame news publications.