My Top Ten Games of 2017

And with this, I've run out of ideas for lists.

10. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Tried all the Uncharteds except 4, never got what the fuss was.  This, on the other hand, is a delight.

9.  Horizon Zero Dawn
Not actually got as far in this as I probably should have, because I keep getting distracted by making pretty pictures in the photo mode.  Still great when I remember to play the actual game though.

8.  Persona 5
Not got that far in this either (I think I'm getting giant-game-fatigue), but what I have played tells me this is special.

7.  Resident Evil VII: Biohazard
Discussed this already.  tl;dr - it's a welcome return to Resi of old, made fresh by the first-person perspective.

6.  Sonic Mania
Several levels are too long, about half the bosses are shite and more new designs would have been welcome.  But my goodness it's wonderful to have a properly, indisputably brilliant new Sonic game.

5.  Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony
The fact that - gasp! - all the minigames are both comprehensible and enjoyable means that gameplay-wise this is the best Danganronpa yet.  Plotting's as excellent as ever, to the point that not even learning who the evil mastermind was before I started playing it didn't ruin it for me.

4.  Prey
Not quite as good as it should have been, but it has moments of brilliance, superlative world-building and is filled with more original ideas than it knows what to do with.

3.  What Remains of Edith Finch
Aptly described by some matey on Twitter as "WarioWare, but emotional", this game never stops pulling you up short.  The cannery sequence will linger in my mind for years to come.

2.  The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo give the open-world concept a whirl and of course they master it straight off.  The most innovative Zelda since the first one - maybe the best?

1.  Life is Strange: Before the Storm
A prequel to a game that didn't need one by a completely different development team with none of the original voice cast returning.  This should have been wretched.  But it's absolutely brilliant and brings out more subtleties in the original game.  The sequence where you act in a production of The Tempest is my gaming moment of the year.

My Top Ten Albums of 2017

Yes.

10. Concrete and Gold - Foo Fighters

9. The Amazons - The Amazons

8. Whiteout Conditions - The New Pornographers

7. Still Hungry - DJ Format & Abdominal

6. Everything Now - Arcade Fire

5. Hug of Thunder - Broken Social Scene

4. Just Bring It - Band-Maid

3. Migration - Bonobo

2. Music from Before the Storm - Daughter

1. Something to Tell You - Haim

(I should point out that Daughter track's probably the weakest on the album but the only one I could find in full on the YouTubes.)

My Top Ten Films of 2017

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  The time that I point out that this list includes films from 2016 that I saw in the cinema in 2017 so they totally count, and also there are a bunch I didn't get round to so don't complain about the lack of Get Out, The Florida Project, The Big Sick, It, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Wonder Woman etc.