Hollow Knight is a hand-drawn, 2D animated Metroidvania inspired by the likes of Super Metroid, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and classic Disney cartoons and films with its hand drawn style! The game was developed by Team Cherry, and was a succesfully funded Kickstarter game. It currently features several unique, colorful worlds, a story that can last between 5 and 10 hours if you follow a linear path, and up to 20 hours of additional content that players can enjoy at their own pace.

While I have personally put more time into most of the other subjects in this timeline, Hollow Knight is easily my favorite game to have come out this year. No other game had managed to fill me with as much emotion as Hollow Knight did throughout my first playthrough, and I'll probably never feel that kind of emotion when playing a game again for a long time.

Hollow Knight is currently available on Windows, Mac, and Linux via Steam, with a port to the Nintendo Switch aimed for early 2018.

The Nintendo Switch is the latest console developed by critically acclaimed game company, Nintendo. It is a unique spin on the popularity of handheld gaming, as it is a handheld device with the graphical fidelity equal to, if not greater than a previous generation console. The console is capable of three different modes of play (handheld, tabletop, TV) and up to two players in local multiplayer right out of the box. One of the console's main selling points is the ability to dock the system to a special device that connects to your TV and immedietly transfers the game to the TV with no delay. Not only that, but you can separate the two controllers on the side, or the "Joycons" as they are referred to as, and use them as individual controllers, allowing for easy multiplayer wherever you are!

The Nintendo Switch ended up being the first console I have purchased since the Wii, and I have not regretted that decision. It is a great console for when you want console quality gaming on the go, or for if you want a good party game that you can take anywhere and play with friends wherever you are. If you are in the market for a new console, or even a new handheld, I recommend looking into the Nintendo Switch

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the first game released for the Nintendo Switch, and is the latest in the Zelda series by Nintendo. Breath of the Wild takes a radically different approach to the adventure game formula that the series is known for, replacing the linear level design and narrative with an open world that players can freely explore, as well as a looser story that doesn't rely heavily on the player's input. While the open world formula isn't new, as several games and franchises have used this same design and have become household names for it, Breath of the Wild takes a unique approach to the player's interactivity. Upon completing the game's tutorial section and getting their first movement upgrade, the paraglider, the player is free to explore the world to their heart's content. There are objectives, but they are not necessary to finishing the game. In fact, the player can go straight to the game's final boss, and even defeat it if they have the tools or know-how for the job.

Breath of the Wild is a fantastic game from beginning to end. For Nintendo's first entry into the modern open world genre, it is quite impressive how they make the world feel so massive, but also so full of life. Almost every square mile of the game has at least a dozen different things to find, whether it be something as small as a hidden Korok or some crafting materials, to something as grand as a band of enemies to fight, a shrine with a difficult puzzle, or a treasure chest with rare and powerful loot.

Breath of the Wild is available on the Nintendo Switch and the Wii U, though I recommend the Switch version for better visuals and a more steady framerate.

Sonic Mania is the latest 2D adventure of the long lasting blue blur, Sonic the Hedgehog. It is a game created by a team of Sonic fans, known for their fan made Sonic games and engines, officially licensed and published by Sega. Mania harkens back to the classic days of the Sega Genesis and CD games, adapting what made those games great into a modern engine. Featuring over 10 zones, consisting of new stages and those of older games, new abilities for Sonic, a playable Tails and Knuckles for the first time in over a decade, and a catchy soundtrack composed by Tee Lopes, Sonic Mania is the ultimate love letter to the 2D golden years of the fastest thing alive.

Sonic Mania is an amazing game through and through. It replicates the physics of the classic Sonic series almost perfectly, and the level design is varied and fair, allowing for multiple different ways to play through the stages. While the lack of original content aside from the four new zones may be dissapointing to some, Mania more than makes up for it by completely remixing the stages that are reused, with creative uses of old and new level gimmicks.

Cuphead is a passion project made by a small group of independent developers. A Contra-styled shoot-em-up that harkens back to early 1900s animation as a basis for its artstyle. What started out as a small boss rush-type game, soon became a fully fleshed up shooter/platformer, funded by Microsoft and published to Xbox One and PC. I have personally not put time into Cuphead, but I won't deny that it is a visual spectacle, bringing the classic "rubber hose" style of animation into the modern era. The developers put a lot on the line to make Cuphead, including their own homes, but it paid off big time for them, as the game has gone on to sell incredibly well and receive many rewards.

A game over 4 years in the making, Hat in time (HiT) is an old school collectathon platformer brought into the modern era. Taking inspiration from the likes of Banjo Kazooie and Super Mario Sunshine, HiT takes you on a journey with the cute-as-heck Hat Kid, who is searching for time pieces to restore power to her spaceship to return home. The quest will take Hat Kid to a colorful variety of worlds, from a town owned by the Mafia, to a movie studio populated with birds and bird puns galore, to a spooky forest governed by a ghost that claims your soul in exchange for completing tasks for him.

While the game is short, with only 4 worlds and a total of 40 Time Pieces to find, HiT makes up for that with an abundance of charm. Its Gamecube styled aesthetic, humerous and over-the-top voice acting, and overall light-hearted nature make HiT a joy to sit down and play, and each and every time piece mission is memorable, fun, and unique. Hat in Time is a must-own for all fans of 3D platformers!

The latest major release of 2017, Super Mario Odyssey is the newest entry into the Super Mario franchise, bringing back the classic, open world platforming of 64 and Sunshine, only now at a massive scale. With a dozen kingdoms to explore, and hundreds of Power Moons to collect, Super Mario Odyssey is a grand adventure across the world, going beyond the very boundaries of the Mushroom Kingdom and travelling to cold deserts, stormy cities, and low-poly lands of food!

Odyssey is a fantastic experience from beginning to end. Each world has a memorable quest for players to experience, and the hundreds of moons that exist in the game keeps them engaged and encourages exploring every nook and cranny of the kingdoms. Odyssey is an adventure worth its price tag, and is a must-have for Nintendo fans, and for those wanting a great new addition in their Nintendo Switch library!

The purpose of this site was to showcase the amazing video games that came out in 2017, as well as my own thoughts on all of them. I used jquery to make multiple devs that act as "game pages" that are opened up depending on which node of the timeline you clicked. I also added a fade effect between the divs whenever you clicked on a node to make the transitions overall smoother.