System Warriors, how is your 2017 so far?

I feel that it's been quite a number of years since I've seen gamers talk so positively about a year in gaming. Heck, it's been a wild ride so far and we're only into April! It's been a huge year for gaming already so I wanted to get some feedback on System Wars' 2017.

We have the release of a new Nintendo console, the Switch. Great device. And with that we were hit with the massive The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which is one of the best scoring games of all time.

What else has happened? Sony has had a terrific year so far with an insane amount of releases. Horizon: Zero Dawn, Nioh, NieR: Automata, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD Final Chapter Prologue, Kingdom Hearts I.5 + II.5 HD ReMIX, Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0, and just now in its first couple days in April, the PS4 has Persona 5 out in the wild.

The Xbox One hasn't had quite the exciting release schedule as the PS4 has, but it has had notable releases in Halo Wars 2 and ... I'm drawing a little bit of a blank so if someone can help me out, awesome.

Don't forget multiplats like Resident Evil 7, Tales of Berseria, For Honor, Torment: Tides of Numenera, Ghost Recon Wildlands, and Mass Effect Andromeda.

- - - - -

Share your thoughts on the first three months of 2017 up through today. Some talking points:

(no, you don't have to fill them all out or anything; this is just to help anyone get started)

• What have you played? Purchased? Beaten?
• What has been your favorite game of 2017 so far?Any Game of the Year contenders?
• What's been your most disappointing game so far? What did reviewers and gamers get wrong?
• What have you waited on purchasing until you clear a couple of these current releases out of your backlog?
• Do you think that the rest of 2017 will remain as packed as these first three months?
• What system was had the best year so far?
• Anything negative about this year that you want to get out of your system, either with salt or a sarcastic :P ?
• Are you using the PS4 Pro's boost mode? Or what about the Switch's portability? Or are you waiting for Scorpio?
• Are you looking forward to the constant barrage of Persona 5 threads from @charizard1605 about sales or how it is a treasure because of X, Y, and Z reasons?

So in the words of @SolidGame_basic: Please, System Wars, I am dying to know your thoughts.

This has been the GOAT year for me, holy shit. Even with nothing else, just Zelda and P5 alone would have made this my favorite year since at least 2011. That said, I'll answer your questions:

• I've acquired: Yakuza 0, Nioh, Nier Automata, For Honor, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Poochy and Yoshi's Wooly World, NINTENDO SWITCH, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mass Effect Andromeda, Grand Theft Auto V (bit late on this one...), and Persona 5, with a pre-order for Mario Kart 8 in. of these, I have played significant amounts of Nioh and Yakuza. Currently obsessively playing Persona until I finish it, and I've spent about 90 hours or so on Zelda. Everything else is on hold until I beat P5.
  
• Zelda is the best game of the year so far, but Persona 5 is on a fast track to overtake it. Both of those are GotY contenders so far
• Uhhh... nothing, actually. Amazingly enough, I have liked everything I have played. The only disappointment I have had so far is from the little I played of GTA5, but that's not a game from this year, and I also didn't play enough of it to feel like I can make a proper call yet
• Resident Evil 7 with PSVR and Tales of Berseria are both games I want, but will have to get later
• I hope 2017 is not as packed going forward as it was these three months, this was fucking insane
• No, I think the good thing about this year is just how well my Switch and PS4 played with each other- when I don't have much to play on Switch, PS4 picks up the slack, and vice versa
• I am totally using the Switch's portability, and finding myself wishing that all games had it, that shit fits better into my life than even I would have foreseen
• I am not looking forward to the glut of P5 threads by charizard1605, we get it, he's a weeaboo and he likes the game, why does he have to beat it into our heads like that?

2017 so far has been pretty freaking good with lots of games playing now as it is.

• Mass Effect: Andromeda PC
• Horizon: Zero Dawn PS4 exclusive
• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo exclusive
• NieR: Automata PC
• Resident Evil 7: Biohazard PC
• Buying Nintendo Switch+Breath of the Wild for my 9 year old daughter
• AMD new CPU Ryzen has been release and currently building a new PC with Ryzen for my daughter's new gaming PC

So yeah, 2017 has been very very good to me Zassimick.

Also, MS should be ashamed of themselves for NOT putting more pressure on Platinum's Scalebound work and shouldn't be cancelled and what a way for MS to get a lot of bad press for the start of 2017. But however, I do wish them well with Scorpio.

Bought just about everything. Finished just about nothing.

Nice.

best first quarter of a year as far as i can remember.

2017 is already better than 2016 and is on track to eclipse 2015.

Just for 2017

1. I've purchased Yakuza 0, Horizon, Earth Defense Force 4.1, and a some older games. And I want Nioh, Dark Souls 3 Ringed City, Nier, and maybe Persona 5

2. Yakuza 0 has been my favorite game so far. I purchased Horizon and still went back to Yakuza 0. It's the perfect mix of humor, serious storytelling, and satisfying gameplay. To me it FEELS like a video game.

3. I don't know if I have a disappointing game yet.

4. Yes, I am going to Finish Yakuza 0 and Horizon before I buy any new games.

5. If good games keep releasing like this I don't know what I am going to do, I don't have enough time to play all the games I want now.

6. PS4 has had the best year so far.

7. Nope

8. I am using the PS4 Pro boost mode, some games you can really tell the difference, others not so much

9. Yes, I actually asked Charizard if P5 was a good starting out point to get into the series. I think I might pick it up.

Really, if I had to say anything about this year.....it's that Yakuza 0 is a must play by anyone who likes video games. For real go play that game right now.

@Star67: Oh, if you liked Yakuza 0, you will absolutely adore P5 (since the one thing that could have been a detriment to you liking it would have been P5's Japanese-ness, but if you like Yakuza, that is clearly not a problem lol)

I've purchased a number of games but missed out on a majority of the big releases. The Nintendo Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Snipper Clips, Shovel Knight Treasure Trove, Snake Pass, and just recently Persona 5 are my purchases so far (I don't think I got anything in January...)

Once I finish Persona 5, I really want to pick up NieR. Rather disappointed I haven't purchased that one yet.

And I honestly think that the year is going to slow down until around September; then we'll see another influx of releases. Give us all a bit of time to catch up.

Well, we lost our freedom of privacy, and are required to use a VPN to circumvent greedy companies stealing and selling our data, but gaming-wise, it's been good. :P

Been enjoying the Dark Souls 3 DLC, recently. Still play and love BF1, and the new DLC is awesome. Also been playing a bit of the new Diablo 3 seasons(yeah, it's not that great, but it fulfills my loot whore needs, lol).

Mass Effect is meh so far, but at least they are actively fixing stuff. Wildlands wasn't bad, either. Got it for free with my 1080 GTX, and been enjoying it with a friend.

Oh yeah, and I built a new PC. It's amazing.

@charizard1605: Your impressions of GTAV are interesting. You haven't played that yet? The gameplay isn't anything to write home about, but the experience of GTAV as a whole is one that I greatly enjoyed. I'll be interested to hear more later this year.

Good. I think it's that way for the majority, even if there was only one game that people wanted. Might I ask what you thought of Horizon versus Breath of the Wild (which one have you preferred?)

I'm starting to see the end of a backlog that's taken me 2 years. Finished Super Meat Boy last night. Well "finished" the light world atleast lol. Too frustrating for me to continue at this point.

I still have about a dozen or so games to clear- Forza 5, Doom 1 2 and 3, Super Mario Sunshine, OOT Masterquest, MegaMan X4, Walking Dead Season 2, Demon's Souls, Red Dead Redemption, Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, The Last of Us.

My goal is to clear my backlog by the fall and then get a Switch! Then I'll be playing Switch games and going back to a few games I haven't played in years- Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil 4, etc.

So far my 2017 is pretty epic. Assuming Red Dead Redemption 2 and Shenmue 3 makes the end of the year, that would be the cherry on top and push it over as being my favorite year in gaming. I am assuming Shenmue 3 will be delayed but even then 2017 could still make best year.

@charizard1605: That's good to hear! After I beat Yakuza 0 I think it's going to be my next purchase for sure.

I bought Horizon and played until I got to level 22 or so, but I was just drawn back to Yakuza. My girlfriend likes to watch me play games and even though she liked Horizon too; she still asked if I could go back to Yakuza.

I'm taking a break from the main story and I am fighting the 5 billionaires now. I'm buying the gambling King's turf section.

Amazing. BotW probably the best open world game I ever played. Persona 5 looking to be in the top 3 jrpg's I've ever played. Horizon Zero Dawn was also an amazing game. I loved the setup of its story. Nioh was absolutely fantastic. It completely sucked me in for almost a month! Pokemon Sun got played this year and it's the first Pokemon game I legit love to play. Resident Evil saving face! A resurrection of sorts.

And looking at my list of upcoming awesome stuff I have so much to look forward to this year. This is the best year I've ever had in gaming and it started off STRONG. I'm hype.

Heck I have Nier Automata ready on Steam! And that game is right up my alley! This year is hot stuff! And I almost forgot, I FINALLY got to try PSVR last week and that thing works so well! No clunky jittery issues, no flickering or slowdown. It's very comfortable and it just works. I am totally set on getting a Vive later this year.

I think my issue is that I tried to jump into it right after I was done with Zelda, and that... was not going to work. The driving and shooting alone pissed me off, but again, maybe I went into it with the wrong mindset. Definitely looking to give it a proper chance again later, although P5 supercedes all for now, naturally.

Yeah, Yakuza just has so much charm and quirkiness, it's amazing. It's a damn great game, too.

Fantastic for me, enjoying Mass Effect, Thought Resident evil was great but a little underwhelming overall compared to past games. Looking forward to Outlast 2, then Prey.

I'm mostly a competitive online gamer though, so I'm still playing Gears 4 and Horizon 3 regularly and recently took the plunge with a 4K tv, digging HDR.

Only other games in the OP list that interested are Zelda and NiOH, but I'm in no rush as I can only handle a few of those heavy solo-player games at the same time. Still have many of those from 2016 to finish such as Rise of the Tomb Raider, Fallout 4, etc.

I also played numerous indie games, and my top pick in recent weeks would be "Kona". Its a pretty cool little Detective game with minor survival elements, mostly exploration....the location is in Quebec and Montreal which I thought was really cool since I am from there and very rarely see games located in that setting.

Glad to see lots games coming out and gaming booming, but I don't see much positivity as you stated in the OP, quite the contrary...seeing a lot of bashing going around for well received games, and those not so well received critically are getting eviscerated by some of the more illustrious members of the internet gaming community.

We have no idea what happened between MS and Platinum. MS did not cancel SB for a laugh or on a whim that's for sure. With the time and money invested in that project it must of been a very difficult decision to of cancelled it. I'm sure they had put pressure on them. But at the end of the day there is no point pissing money away for the sake of it. And the only bad press seems to be amongst the 6 posters on here that constantly drone on about it. Games get cancelled all the time.

Seriously though, I would love for you to elaborate on this point. Not because I don't believe you (because I certainly see what you're saying) but I'd love to open this discussion up further.

Good so far. :)

I haven't played all that much from this year because I am primarily playing games released from previous years.

What I have been playing from this year is Breath of the Wild which I thoroughly enjoy and Blaster Master Zero which didn't really resonate with me.

Ive spent alot of money this year on games.

@zassimick: No time for a deep discussion on the matter, simply a general observation on my part based on the comments I see on articles here and elsewhere, forums, etc people trying to downplay the success or merits of some games....the usual stuff, but more of it now because lots of games releasing in a short time span. Its not something I want to focus on to be honest, its just my general impression that's all.

• So far I've bought Gravity Rush 2, Yakuza 0, BotW, Nioh, and Persona 5. I've beaten the first three, and am about two thirds done with Nioh.
• My favorite game of 2017 atm is Yakuza 0, and it would without a doubt be my GOTY if a certain blue hedgehog wasn't getting a true sequel after 23 years
• BotW has been the only disappointment. I enjoyed the freedom, but I disliked just about everything else about the game.
• After I finish Nioh and try out Persona 5, I might get MLB The Show 2017 next. I'm a much bigger fan of watching the real game than playing a pretend version though, so we'll see.
• There's around 10 other games that I could see myself getting by the end of the year, so yeah, I expect the second half of 2017 to also be good.
• PS4 is owning the year.
• There are negatives about 2017, but they're not gaming related. :)
• Nope. I have the PS4 slim; I don't know when I'll get a Switch; and I have no plans to get the Scorpio.
• I mean, it's not that much different than any other day on system wars is it? lol.

So far so awesome.

The Switch is decent, not entirely sure how much I like it so far, in some ways I still prefer the Wii U, but games wise it is off a good start with BOTW

Nier: Automata (PC)

Resident Evil 7 (PC)

Sniper Elite 4 (PC)

Persona 5 (PS4)

Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)

Nioh (PS4) (I will admit I did not like this as much as others seems to)

With the addition of the last DLC for Dark Souls 3 I consider it to have been quite a good start of the year, nearing two great games a month, for the first 4 months straight.. There likely are good games that I have passed on so far, or even slipped through the cracks of all the other releases, so yeah it is a pretty damn amazing month

Been so-so, last year was gangbusters, can't really expect a repeat of that.

This year has been absolutely insane so far.

My main purchases:

Nioh - only played a handful of hours so far, need to get back to it as it's a great twist on the Dark Souls formula

Horizon - Completed this and have loved Horizon and the world GG created, I really hope this gets sequels in the future

Zelda - Got this after Horizon but completed before, amazing game but shite story

Nintendo Switch - Great hardware from Nintendo for once, I look forward to seeing what the future of this holds

Persona 5 - Only played this 8 hours, but so far it is just incredible. Highly likely to be my game of the year among many greats.

My wallet can only take so much more this year.

I love to see someone else who played most of the fantastic games that I've played. So many gamers even on SW play only the shooters or the rpg's or the this or the that and they are missing out. Or they're short on time and hey that happens and I feel for those people. I'm with you, man. As an all-loving gamer this year is killing it.

Short of money for video games, but still the best gaming year of my life.

it's been really great so far , many great Japanese titles came out this year and if PT announce Byonetta for PC , I dunno what what more could I ask for

I loved BotW and plan on picking up Tales of Berseria in a steam sale. I might pull the trigger on Yooka Laylee. Aside from that my gaming time is spent playing older releases like 2016's Gears of War 4.

@LordQuorthon: Very nice! I'm in one weekly campaign right now and I started one recently that goes about once or twice a month with a bunch of board gamers who haven't played a tabletop RPG before. Both have been pretty good for me. I'm glad your gaming is going well!

Its been alright I guess, Nioh was a nice surprise and i'm enjoying Horizon: Zero Dawn more than I expected.

I'm a little bummed about ME:A still, even though I liked it overall, there is no denying it could have been a lot better.

once Rising Storm 2 comes out all will be well, i've played the beta and know that at least won't disappoint. if RDR2 turns out well I think it will end up being a great year for me.

@zassimick: I actually had to wait for almost a decade to go back to tabletop RPGs because I simply couldn't find a new group! Video games can wait; I'm in no hurry.

Have you noticed how tabletop newcomers tend to be the soul of the game? Are you playing 5e, WoD or what?

Right on! Such a great year for all kinds of games.

Although actually, there is a point I can disagree with you with. I found your post and noticed you mentioned Pokemon Sun.

I too have started playing that this year, but sadly for me that has been quite a disappointment unfortunately. It's possible I just had too high expectations though (for which I blame @charizard1605 for)

• Horizon: Zero Dawn (plat), ME, MLB '17, BotW are the games I've bought this year.
• Horizon: Zero Dawn easily has been my favorite game this yea. It would be my GotY
• Mass Effect. It's just so buggy.
• None. I don't have much of a backlog anymore.
• Destiny 2 is the game I am looking forward to in Sept. Not much else has me intrigued as of yet.
• PS4. I mean, it's had several exclusives that have down extremely well
• Really wish Sony would drop PS Now and go the route Microsoft has in regards to BC
• No. The only game that I still play that would use it is Destiny but it won't change much of it. I only use my Switch as a portable device. I have used it once as a console and that was only to set up the sound and stuff. I foresee only using it as a larger 3DS. I have very little interest in Scorpio
• I tend to ignore threads with games I have no interest in.

Played alot but not finished much.

Thus far Shadow Tactics has been the high point.

@LordQuorthon: Almost a decade? Woof. I played nearly every week for a decade now. That'd be rough.

Playing Pathfinder with the old crew and this new group I'm running 5e. New players have such an awe to the game that is now lost on us veterans. Even little things like an enlarge person spell fills the players with a sense of wonder and excitement. Priorities are different, though. The new players want to just learn the game, see new abilities and have some badass moments. My group is focused on the RP aspect--playing our characters and putting them in challenging moral dilemmas. The differences between the two games is great.

Nah, I thought Pokemon Sun was majorly disappointing. It's my hope that GameFreak follows the formula Zelda just took: going from a linear adventure that holds your hand every step of the way to something open and free. Sun and Moon were way too restricting and lacking in gameplay.

Super disappointed by the games.

@zassimick: Ahh glad it's not just me. I agree Pokemon needs a good shake up, and giving it the Zelda treatment would certainly help.

I was also a bit gutted they took out Super training, as that actually seemed to be a great addition to XY/ORAS

Been a great year so far, its almost overwhelming tbh

ive only finished RE7 and Zelda and working on NieR right now

Horizon, Yakuza 0. Persona 5 in my backlog

I really do enjoy both of these games, they have met my expectations beyond, it's very hard for me to pick one over the other but if that comes down to it, I'll say,,,,,,,,Horizon: Zero Dawn is my answer. Why you ask? It's one of the fresher new IP game I enjoy the most so far, killing dinobots never get's old, and this is the most apocalyptic-world to be amazingly well this year of 2017 , for now at least. Breath of the Wild is also outstanding but it's just another Zelda game I know to expect so I kinda guess it's nothing newer for me so it's kinda way I prefer Zero Dawn over Breath of the Wild.

I'm still trying to find a Nintendo switch that is in stock.

Try Amazon, Toys R, Us, Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or at least Gamestop. Chances are, you'll be lucky to find yourself a Nintendo Switch.

Basically, 2017 hasn't begun for me yet. Not unusual for me, as I like to wait for sales or until games "patch out" a bit. Now to answer your bullet points individually:

• Played, purchased, beaten? Old game (Age of Empires III), old game (Titan Quest Anniversary Edition) and old game (Injustice: Gods Among Us).
• So as I said, I haven't played a 2017 game yet, so I don't have an answer for that. That said, I think Breath of the Wild already has GOTY all sown up.
• No question, Mass Effect: Andromeda. I wasn't planning on buying the game in 2017 anyway (waiting for patches and DLC, still pissed at EA's pricing for Sims 4 content packs), but the fact that EA went ahead and made it even easier for me to skip this was disappointing.
• None, really. I just buy whatever I'm in the mood to buy. For example, I haven't bought Tyranny or Tides of Numenera yet because I'm just not yet in the mood for a Baldur's Gate-style RPG.
• I think so. I have a feeling 2017 is going to be a very good year for gaming. This year's E3 is going to be dope.
• PS4, probably. Horizon, Nioh, Nier: Automata, and Persona 5 is a strong line-up.
• F*** microtransactions. F*** it to Hell with a shotgun wrapped in barbed wire and razor blades. F*** it up the arse until it bleeds like the Niagara Falls.
• I don't have a console, and only Horizon so far has even half a decent shot at tempting me to buy one.
• Meh. Let him do his worst.

It is a great year.

I am just trying to clear my massive backlog across ps4 and pc.

As far as new games go i bought and finished yakuza 0 and loved every second of it.I also got nier automata on pc and have seen 2 of it's endings so far.Additionally i picked up Gravity Rush 2 during last week's psn sale but i have yet to play it.

Everything else is on my to buy list.I am not buying another game till i finish what i currently have.

@zassimick: After a long and terrible fight with orcs, some infernal-like creatures that I still don't even want to know what they were, and the orcs' pet dire bear, I went to the bathroom while the other guys looted the corpses. When I came back, our bard had healed and somehow domesticated the dire bear.

He named the bear "Bard." Yes, Bard the bear is part of our party now.

That's the kind of stuff that only newcomers can add to the game.

I recently just returned back to gaming, so far I have bought only UC4 and FFX/X-2 Remastered (have yet to finish). Will get Persona 5, Horizon, Gravity Rush 2 and a ton of games released in previous years: The Witcher 3, The Last Guardian, The Last Of Us Remastered, The Order 1886, Bloodborne, MGSV, FO4, Deus Ex MD, Tomb Raider 2013, DAI ...

Tight.

Considering Zelda was my low point so far (other than maybe ME:A, which I didnt bother with), pretty damn good

I'm enjoying it. Started with RE7 and it was a great move by capcom Imo to change RE up.

Halo Wars 2 has been a lot of fun. Blitz is such a cool mode granted I get slaughtered LOL ?

Nioh is a GOTY contender at cainetaocritic along with Horizon.

Andromeda is as Eroica said to me, ME1 fully realized. The amount of exploration, the combat especially with the ability to map four profiles and switch on the fly is a joy.