2017 is drawing to an end, and all in all, it was a great year for gaming with Nintendo demonstrating their continued relevance by issuing the latest installments of their two biggest franchises, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, and even Naughty Dog not doing too shabby for themselves by releasing the surprisingly good Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.

I have to admit that quite a lot of the big releases such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Persona 5 ended up on the backburner because I haven’t set the time for them, but rest assured, I will get to them eventually. A bit of that could be explained by the fact that I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the theaters this year. When it comes to movies, 2017 is sort of like 2013 was for gaming in that it could be summed up in one word: incongruous. I saw more movies this year than I did in 2016, with my personal favorites including Baby Driver, The Lost City of Z, and The Disaster Artist. At the same time, there were innumerable high-profile disasters such as The Emoji Movie and The Book of Henry. In other words, films in 2017 came in two flavors: incredible and disastrous – there was practically no middle ground.

In any event, I can say 2017 was a good year for me personally; with my piece on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, I managed to reach a significant milestone of having reviewed 100 games. I had no idea I would make it that far in a relatively short period of time. To put this in perspective, my review of Spec Ops: The Line, which I originally posted September 30, 2016, was my 50^th review.

As a way of both celebrating this accomplishment and bidding farewell to 2017, I thought I would spend the next series of posts reflecting on all the games I’ve reviewed so far. As I’ve been reviewing these games, I created a list, ranking them from best to worst. For the purposes of these posts, I feel it would be a better idea to start with the worst and end on a high note by recapping my all-time favorites. I feel that in doing so, I can add any extra thoughts I’ve developed since my original review as well as drawing comparisons I normally wouldn’t as I justify each entry’s position on the list.

Before I get started, there are a few people to whom I want to give special thanks.

Aether of Lost to the Aether – He has been reading and commenting on my reviews since early 2015. Back then, I wasn’t taking this site very seriously, as evidenced by my sparse posts in 2014. In fact, it was through talking with him (and others later) that I began to formulate new opinions I wouldn’t have otherwise. He’s always fun to talk to, and every time I post a review, I look forward to seeing what he has to say about it. Right now, he’s in the middle of a Let’s Play of the original Fallout, which is worth reading for fans or those who want to get into the series.

Scott of The Wizard Dojo – His adverse stance to the overly cynical nature of gaming criticism is something I can get behind. Indeed, I’m amazed how deep the conversations between the two of us get, and it’s refreshing hearing an opinion that doesn’t blindly go with the crowd.

LightningEllen of LightningEllen’s Release – Ever since she followed my site, she’s been one of my greatest supporters, even going as far as posting a link to one of my reviews on Twitter.

Rob Covell of I Played the Game – Another fun person to talk to. Lately, he has been writing a series of posts chronicling his playthrough of XCOM. Highly recommended for fans and newcomers alike.

The Shameful Narcissist of The Shameful Narcissist Speaks – Like Lightning, she’s also a big fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. Like Aether, I always look forward to hearing what she has to say about the games I review. She periodically posts about her reading, writing, and gaming exploits, so chances are great you will have something you can talk with her about.

With everything said and done, the 100 game countdown can now begin. The next post will have me revisit the absolute worst games I’ve reviewed. Stay tuned!