FIRST LOOK

While there are a ton of Early Access games not worth the electricity spent to launch them, others such as They Are Billions and Astroneers are outright better than most of the games cluttering up Steam. Is Abandon Ship the next great Early Access title?

REVIEW

“Kingdom Come” is unlike any other RPG made. While plenty of RPGs have paid lip service to realism, almost all of them eventually have veered in magic, prophecies about the Chosen One or some other such nonsense. “Deliverance” offers no such tomfoolery and replaces it with chores, learning how to read and getting your ass kicked. Constantly.

If you missed out on Dragon Quest Builders the first time around, what differentiates it from Minecraft and its clones is the focus on story progression and the mash-up of traditional roleplaying game elements with build-what-you-want mechanics. Oh, and it's fun, to boot.

REVIEW IN PROGRESS

There is a certain rhythm to open-world roleplaying games. First, you start off as nobody. Then you get a sword. Then you become Lord and Master of Everything That Ever Was and Will Be. “Kingdom Come: Deliverance” is basically the opposite of all of that.

Fourattic’s small team clearly has a love for all things ’80s.From the pixel art that evokes video games of yore, to the low-budget Saturday morning cartoon-esque cutscenes, to the dozens of references to everything from Michael Jackson to “Ghostbusters,” “Crossing Souls” is packed with love letters to the decade that Ronald Reagan built.

Let me take you back to the ‘90s really quick, an era where anime could pretty much only be found at Blockbuster videos and interest in Japanese cartoons was considered a hobby only for the socially inept. This was around the time I had my first exposure to the Dragon Ball franchise in the form of imported Super Famicom fighting games. These 2D brawlers were like nothing I’d seen stateside. Who were these characters with spiky blonde hair and how could throwing fireballs be as simple as pushing a button?

Even if you can’t stomach the thought of having to juggle yet another series of food, water and health meters, “Subnautica” deserves your immediate and undivided attention. It’s not only a breath of fresh air in a stale genre, but it’s an absolutely stunning game

I’m standing in the middle of a woodsy-looking area holding a battery that I plucked from a climate-control machine in one hand and, in my other, the receiver of a corded phone attached to a pole. My attention is divided between my bosses who are yelling at me through the phone telling me that I should kill myself and a tree dwelling creature I see nearby who is cursing at me for invading his sanctuary.

Another year down, another year of amazing video game experiences. As with every year, there have been some great games and some titles that are best forgotten. This year in particular will be remembered largely for the resurgence of Nintendo, what with the company’s massively successful Switch and the exceptional critical reception of two of its flagship IPs. But 2017 was chock full of other success stories as well. Please enjoy our rundown of what we consider to be the best video games of 2017.

Parenting

Kyle Gray knows basketball. But in a crowded conference room on a sweltering July afternoon in Yakima, Wash., no one attending a clinic seemed to care about that. They wanted to know only one thing from the Edmonds Community College men’s basketball coach: How do you deal with parents?

We’ve compiled a list of some of the best games from across the most popular genres released this year. Take a look and keep this article in mind next time you’re at the store looking for a gift for that special someone. Even if that someone is you.

Few developers have managed to squander as much goodwill as the “Stars Wars Battlefront” team. But is the game beneath the controversy worth playing?

Where do you even begin to review a re-re-release of a six-year-old video game? Most of the time, the answer is simple. You don’t. You skip that release and move on to the next one, much like gamers will not normally flock to a port of such an old game.

In promoting “Call of Duty: WWII,” Activision has touted a return to tradition. However, the latest first-person shooter makes so many bold changes to the franchise’s format that it’s quickly apparent that it’s anything but traditional — and that’s for the best.

On Nov. 10, World of Warships will introduce the USS Kidd to its fleet of military ships. It’s creators believe if a Kidd veteran sees the gaming version, it will seem like the real thing.

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re well aware of “Super Mario Odyssey's” stellar critical reception. Game reviewers far and wide have proclaimed “Odyssey” to be one of the best games of the year - with good reason. We break down some of those reasons in this look at the game's success.

Barracks rooms across the world soon will be filled once more with the sounds of explosions, gunfire and cries of foul play, all indicating that another “Call of Duty” has been released into the wild. A former Army Ranger and current Pittsburgh Steeler will make an appearance in this year's "Call of Duty: WWII."

It’s a strange world that we live in when a first-person shooter that features robot dogs and military bases on Venus can be relevant to today’s political landscape. Yet, the marketing for “Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus,” which featured heavily riffs on modern-day political slogans, managed to make a 35-year old game series a political touchstone among the gaming community in 2017.

The first “Evil Within” was a breath of fresh air, a truly scary, unsettling game among a sea of dull, gory action titles. The major question I had coming into “The Evil Within 2” was this: now that true horror games seem to be released monthly, would the series still hold up?

Anyone familiar with “The Lord of the Rings” knows that fighting orcs is hard work, but somebody’s got to do it or the Dark Lord wins. “Middle-earth: Shadow of War” lets you take up a sword and bow to join the battle against Sauron. And it’s definitely hard work.

For more than 20 years now, “South Park” has delighted fans, annoyed its detractors and – at times – outraged both in equal measure. That same combination of clever writing and childlike wonder made “South Park: The Stick of Truth” not only a fantastic South Park game, but an enjoyable experience for nonfans. The recently released follow-up, “The Fractured But Whole,” deviates from the original game in small ways, but keeps most of what worked there intact.

“Cuphead” is a special game that will make players want to put their controller through the wall one minute, and want to pick up the sticks and get back to it the next.

REVIEW

In just a couple of days, Nintendo will unleash its Super Nintendo Entertainment System Classic console on a very suspecting world. This follow-up to last year’s massively sought-after NES Classic is already selling out through pre-orders from vendors across the world.

I have a bit of a confession to make. I didn’t enjoy "Divinity: Original Sin." That being said, the recently released “Original Sin 2” takes everything great about the original and improves it, while cutting back on the annoyances that weighed down the original.

Almost everything about the original “Destiny” has been overhauled, or at least enhanced to place the focus on action.

Some combinations seem so intrinsic to our lives that it catches the mind off guard when we realize somebody had to have invented them. Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Flowers and chocolate. That realization hit me while playing Sloclap’s fantasy martial arts title “Absolver.”

REVIEW

Deep Silver Volition, the company behind the recently-released “Agents of Mayhem,” has an interesting track record when it comes to its most famous intellectual property. “Saints Row” began as a “Grand Theft Auto” clone that copied more than it created.

There are two different games to be found in “Sudden Strike 4.” One that was that balanced for engaging gameplay and another that was designed with little to no thought toward player enjoyment.

It has been a long while since gamers have had a truly fantastic brawler to play. It'll be a while longer, still.

REVIEW

“Hey Pikmin” is the first handheld version of the groundbreaking Nintendo series born from legendary gamesmith Shigeru Miyamoto’s love of gardening.The series’ trademark warmth and laid-back approach to gaming has remained intact. What has changed, though, is the core gameplay and, to some extent, its universal appeal.

I received my PlayStation 4 as a Christmas gift in 2013. For at least a year, until “Bloodborne” came out, my go-to game was “Resogun” a side-scrolling, spaceship shooter that was available for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Developed by Housemarque, Finland’s oldest video game studio, “Resogun” was a love letter to my favorite game as a little kid, “Defender” (another Christmas gift) for the Atari 2600.

Some of the most popular modern fairy tales are played rather than told. Ustwo’s “Monument Valley” spun a story about a quiet princess — Ida — who worked, often alone, to restore a colorful, geometric habitat, one inspired equally by the meticulously designed illustrated architecture of M.C. Escher as well as the joy of optical illusions.

Needless to say, many fans of the series have not only preordered “Splatoon 2,” but care about a review of the title about as much as my dogs care about advanced Egyptian algebra. But what about the rest of us? The gamers who have no special connection to the Splatoon series?

Let me preface this review by stating that “RiME” isn’t for everyone. It’s a slow, solemn puzzle platformer that requires a lot of patience. If you aren’t a fan of the genre, you won’t be able to extract the full experience that the game has to offer. Additionally, among the top questions asked in relation to “RiME” is whether or not it’s worth purchasing on the Nintendo Switch.

review

Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works have joined together to bring us “The Sexy Brutale,” a delightful murder mystery that features stylish cartoon violence. You’ll relive the same day where the guests at the casino mansion (The Sexy Brutale) are murdered by the staff in a “Groundhog’s Day” sort of fashion.

“Arms,” Nintendo’s most recent addition to its growing Switch library, is a bright, colorful brawler that is sure to be high on many a child’s summer gaming wish list. Be warned: it's bright aesthetic hides a difficult challenge.

It has been a banner year for fighting game enthusiasts. The recently released “Injustice 2,” the mobile version of “Skullgirls” and the final form of “Street Fighter II” are all currently vying for fighting fans’ attentions. So where does Namco’s “Tekken 7” sit among this pile of fighters? Right near the very top.

Q&A

Ubisoft announced May 26 that its upcoming video game, "Far Cry 5," will set the series in the United States for the first time. The story pits a player’s band of Heartland resistance fighters against a charismatic doomsday cult leader who kidnaps townspeople all while proclaiming a love of freedom, faith and firearms (not necessarily in that order).

"Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia's" mixture of whimsical anime tropes, deadly serious strategic roleplaying and delightfully frustrating difficulty captures the essence of the series and offers a great starting point for "Fire Emblem" newcomers.

For many years, the fighting game genre was pretty clearly defined by two distinct philosophies. On one hand, there was the anime-based, fluid “Street Fighter” and its clones. On the other, much bloodier hand, there was the motion-captured grit of “Mortal Kombat” and its acolytes.

“Block’hood” diverts from the classic “SimCity” mold in ways that allow the game to forge its own identity, while still having enough old-school flair to satiate fans of the city builder genre.

REVIEW

It’s difficult to talk about “Prey” without talking about its predecessors. No, I’m not talking about the forgettable 2006 title that is technically the first game in this iteration’s series. I’m instead referring to games like “Half-Life” and “System Shock,” games that this “Prey” resembles more than just a little.

review

If you’re curious to see how far narrative-driven games have come in the past few years, “What Remains of Edith Finch” is an excellent starting point.

“Nier: Automata” is a game that refuses to settle for what you expect. Yoko Taro, creator of “Drakengard” and its spinoff “Nier,” has gained a reputation for his unique approach to game design. I’d venture to call him the video game industry equivalent of a mad scientist. The first “Nier” was such a shock to the system that it took a while before it started getting the praise it really deserved. It was a title that mixed emotional depth with off-the-wall design to create something strangely beautiful. Somehow the mad scientist has managed to capture that lightning in a bottle yet again.

The original Nintendo Entertainment System is remembered as perhaps the greatest console to ever grace video gaming. However, its library is chock full of games that weren’t very good in the first place and certainly haven’t aged well.

“Final Fantasy XV” might have gotten the headlines, but for aficionados of Japanese role-playing games, “Persona 5” is the better game.

The games that rise above the fray must have some unique angle in order to distance themselves from their peers. And when it comes to unique, there is no other title that better embodies that concept than inXile’s “Torment: Tides of Numenera.”

Review

“Ghost Recon: Wildlands” includes elements from the “The Division” and “Rainbow Six” and it offers the wide-open world packed with interesting people, locations and missions of “Far Cry.” But it seems that the only thing that comes from previous editions of “Ghost Recon” is the name.

REVIEW

The Nintendo Switch, which launches worldwide this week, will get a tremendous boost thanks to “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” a game that will, without a doubt, be regarded as an instant classic.

If you’ve ever wondered whether a Viking could defeat a samurai, you might like “For Honor.”

As the name implies, Nintendo’s Switch is good at changing things up.

The Vietnam War has set the stage for many classic war movies, chief among them Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket” and Francis Ford Coppola’s magnum opus, “Apocalypse Now.”

“Gravity Rush 2” is a sugary-sweet conglomeration of the best of Japanese geek culture. Sharply animated and brilliantly colored, the game has the look of an anime film and tells much of its story through comic-book panels. It’s the first title I’ve played on the PS4 that has something of the madcap flair of “Bayonetta 2,” which leads me to think that cosplayers will be all over it.

For more than 30 years, Mario has faithfully collected coins, saved princesses and fixed sinks. Oh, and his empire brought gaming from the arcades into our living rooms and did as much as any other franchise to ensure it stayed there.

Part two

Guns, explosions and violence are the focus of the second part of Stars and look at the past year in video games. Read on for our picks for the top action games of 2016.

Part One

This weekend is Christmas, as any of you poor saps working retail or standing duty on Dec. 25 are overly aware. As such, many gamers, their hands tightly clenching new controllers, will be looking for new games to match.

It’s been a rough year for some video-game lovers. There have been some notable titles this year that didn’t live up to their sky-high expectations. Several high-profile games including “Tom Clancy’s The Division,” “Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst” and “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” made headlines for failing to meet player ideals.

The developers of “Watch_Dogs 2” depict hackers as digital Robin Hoods taking from the rich to help the poor.

Campaigns in the “Call of Duty” series can often be distilled down to a series of set pieces, cliched villains, telegraphed twists, and ridiculous monologues punctuated with excessive explosions. In “Infinite Warfare,” you still get some of all that, but if you’re not careful you might also find yourself shedding a solitary tear for the brave soldiers and their sacrifices in the brutal war against the Settlement Defense Front. While the characters are cut right from archetypal cloth, real empathetic weight seeps through the story from beginning to end.

Intrigue and betrayal again stalk the rat-infested streets of Dunwall. And once again, a shadowy avenger must find a way to reclaim honor and the imperial throne.

“Mafia 3” is an imperfect game that’s more interesting than any number of conventionally polished creations. It’s the rare AAA title that seems to have funneled more resources into its characters than its gameplay.

One of the least appreciated games of 2014 was “Titanfall,” a sci-fi shooter that mixed fast-paced infantry action with giant combat robots.

World War I evokes thoughts of a grinding stalemate where weary solders huddle in trenches that stretch across a cratered landscape. Those who stick their heads over the top are more likely to catch a bullet than a glimpse of the muddy desolation beyond. It certainly doesn’t seem like fertile ground for a “Battlefield” game.

Microsoft took a risk with its “Forza Horizon” series back in 2012, which brought the series’ iconic driving mechanics to an open-world setting. The series originated in Colorado, then went international when the Horizon festival found itself in Southern France and Northern Italy.

Elite NBA players enjoy the 24/7 spotlight of national television, lucrative endorsement deals, and even occasional crossovers into Hollywood. But underneath this veneer of the charmed life are thousands of hours spent in gyms perfecting shooting strokes, honing dribbling moves, and sculpting physiques to withstand the rigors of an 82-game season. For better and worse, “NBA 2K17’s” popular MyCareer mode looks past the glitz and the glamour to focus on the practical side of being a professional athlete.

Every so often, a game comes along that reminds me of how boisterously odd the medium can be.Double Fine Productions' zany artistry of its visual department. The team’s latest creation, “Headlander,” makes perfect sense for the publishing arm of the Adult Swim brand. It trades on the ironic nostalgia for the entertainment of an earlier era.

“Deus Ex: Mankind Divided” is futuristic science fiction, but the message it delivers stems from today’s societal problems. Police shoot unarmed innocents, extremist groups unleash acts of terror, and communities are torn apart by segregation. The story explores these issues thoroughly and makes a clear statement about the threat posed by totalitarianism, but the delivery is often heavy-handed and overstated. In establishing its vision of an oppressed world, the player is treated like a hard drive for extensive downloads of backstory and lore — so much so that I had to make notes just to keep track of all of the shadow organizations, acronyms, and shady government officials. The game made me think about my world, which is clearly the intent, but I never felt a strong connection to the game or the role protagonist Adam Jensen plays within it. Eidos Montreal attempts to disguise hot-button issues as speculative fiction, but sacrifices an interesting story to hammer home its messaging.

Virtual reality remains front and center at Tokyo Game Show 2016.

This weekend’s Tokyo Game Show is expected to be the largest in the popular video-gaming convention’s 20-year history.

The perfect game doesn’t exist in the NFL or in any given rendition of Madden. Even so, “Madden 17” has a lot to enjoy. As they do every year, developers EA Tiburon concentrate on a set of new features, fixes, and points of emphasis to varying degrees of success. Not all the bases are covered, but this is still a team win that Madden gamers can appreciate on some level.

A decade ago, summer was a dead zone for video games. Publishers ignored the season while preparing to launch of their big-budget fall releases.

“Song of the Deep” can’t seem to get out of its own way. While the small-scale project from Insomniac — and debut of GameStop’s new publishing wing, GameTrust — has glimmers of greatness, it constantly feels just slightly off in ways that could have been easily adjusted for a more pleasant experience. There’s a sweet heart buried inside this game, but its unpolished moments obscure it.

Vile Monarch’s “Crush Your Enemies” is a real-time strategy game that does away with everything you think you know about RTS titles. Long game times that leave you in desperation when you realize you made a big mistake early on? Nope. Confusing in-game mechanics that take hours to master? Not at all. “Crush Your Enemies” takes everything you love about real time strategy and synthesizes it so you absorb it in much smaller doses, but still have a rewarding experience.

The first few hours of Hello Games’ “No Man’s Sky” are among this year’s best video gaming moments. The rest of the game is among the year’s biggest disappointments. This dichotomy is in the very DNA of what is ultimately an ambitious, but flawed, experiment.

review

“Abzu” draws liberally from the motifs of Matt Nava’s “Flower” and “Journey.” Similar to “Flower,” it is a hymn to ecology, to bringing things into a more vibrant state of being. And like “Journey,” it gives the sense of a spiritual pilgrimage amongst consecrated spaces. In fact, the word “abzu” traces its origin back to the ancient people of Sumer — the earliest known urban dwellers — who believed that the abzu were the primal waters between earth and the underworld.

Traditional Japanese role-playing games have been less prevalent in recent years. The Tokyo RPG Factory, a subsidiary of Square Enix, hoped to correct that imbalance when it began work on “I Am Setsuna” in 2014. This charming little adventure was designed from the ground up to be a purposeful throwback to classic JRPGs.

Bethesda recently ported “Fallout Shelter” to the PC as part of the launch of its Steam-like game-delivery client. Enough has changed in the game since its launch that we felt it worth taking another look at what “Fallout Shelter” has to offer on the PC.

“Furi” has all the trappings of a Japanese-inspired mythical tale. At its center is a powerful, mysterious hero accompanied by a strange character offering sage wisdom as the hero combats several powerful enemies, sort of like the trials of Hercules. Set against a beautifully designed ethereal world popping with color and vibrancy, it’s evocative and dreamlike, with a distant purpose swirling among its many parts.

Pokemon Go is a full-blown phenomenon, with millions of downloads and excitement only growing. If you’re completely mystified by how this game actually works, here are some basics to get you out there and catching Pokemon in no time.

The “Zero Escape” series has earned a reputation for inflicting mental anguish on players, combining the torturous mind games of “Saw” with “Choose Your Own Adventure” books to create an experience that puts players through the wringer. They are strange games that tackle complex theories about the paranormal and time travel, and refuse to break them down for easy understanding, but the challenge and peculiarities have attracted a cult following. “Zero Time Dilemma,” the third entry, retains those two key pillars while also serving as a more inviting and standalone title thanks to its focus on characters and its impressive non-linear structure.

At this point, most sane humans have had enough of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” but big corporations like Lego and Warner Bros. think you want more BB-8, Rey and the whole intergalactic gang. Much more. So with no less than 13 promotional trailers targeting kids and families on YouTube, the onslaught of “Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens” has begun.

When Keiji Inafune, one of creators of the legendary gaming franchise “Mega Man,” turned to Kickstarter to fund its next title, fans responded in droves. Gamers donated more than $4 million to see “Mighty No. 9” brought to life. What $4 million apparently can’t buy, much to the dismay of the game’s backers, is a guarantee the resulting product will be any good.

“The Witcher” series is one of my all-time favorite video game trilogies, and it was with great sadness that I went into “Blood and Wine.” I wasn’t sad because I thought the expansion would be terrible, quite the opposite in fact; I was sad because this means we’ve come to the end of Geralt’s storyline.

There are no video screens, no virtual bloodshed. Instead, tiny soldiers made of metal or plastic take their strategic posts on elaborate tabletop terrains fashioned by hand with faux foliage, model tanks, submarines and outposts.

It’s been eight years since Faith Connors glided along the rooftops as a runner carrying sensitive information in “Mirror’s Edge.” In that time, Faith appears to have refined her moves and learned some new tricks, but not quite enough to make a true winner out of “Mirror’s Edge Catalyst.”

Blizzard Entertainment doesn’t make many games, but whenever it releases one, everybody takes notice. The California studio is behind some of the industry’s most legendary and enduring entries.

Under the shadow of terms like mashup lies the understanding that spirited things can happen when once-separated elements are knotted together. When the union is a happy one, new genres can spring forth. (Funk is a good example.) But when a matchup is less than ideal, the results can be akin to a dry elevator pitch. Alas, “Battleborn,” the new game from Gearbox Software, slots into this category.

The recently released “Doom” soft reboot is not only a return to form for one of the pioneers of the first-person shooter genre, but a return to a way of designing a game that has long been missing from AAA gaming.

As Naughty Dog planned to end its smash hit series with “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End,” the studio’s creative minds were faced with a seemingly impossible task. How, after four games, could they wrap up the story of Nathan Drake and his treasure-hunting exploits without disappointing millions of fans?

A video game that allowed players to zap marching aliens with dot lasers and another that gave them flamethrowers and put them in the driver’s seat in a violent 3-D world are among six games inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

In the seven years since “Demon’s Souls” arose from nowhere and redefined a genre, numerous clones, offshoots and copycats have come to market. The recently released “Dark Souls III” is a primer on how those developers got it so wrong, and how FromSoftware continues to get it oh so right.