A Year in Review: App Trigger’s video game reviews of 2017

At the culmination of each year, we take a look back at all the App Trigger video game reviews of 2017 for one final “year in reviews” reflection.

We do an awful lot of reflecting at gaming sites like this one at the end of each year. There’s something awe-inspiring about reconsidering the phenomenal adventures we’ve been taken on since January, both as individuals and as outlets. Even if we can come to a consensus on some of the year’s greatests titles and celebrate them as a whole, I find the individual discussions of games that surprised and delighted without the GOTY fanfare just as interesting. And so beyond all our GOTY lists as an outlet, we like to take one last look back not just at the greats, but at everything. All at once, all mashed up. This is App Trigger’s year in reviews, a recap of every single game we reviewed as a website this year.

On behalf of Daniel and myself, I’d like to extend our deepest gratitude to those who provided review copies or codes or otherwise helped us learn about and celebrate their games, and all of the App Trigger staff members who put in time and effort to review games for us. Not only did these efforts allow us to produce together a wonderful body of review work in 2017, but it also allowed our site to join Metacritic as a part of their scoring and review compilations. Thank you to them, as well.

May 2018 be filled with even more wonderful gaming experiences for all of us.

January

• Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS) – 8/10 – “Already an excellent RPG in its own right, Dragon Quest VIII 3DS boasts an improved monster encounter system, several new sidequests and activities, two new characters and some new story to entice even veterans back for just one more journey.”
• Poochy and Yoshi’s Woolly World (3DS) – 8.5/10 – “In every way except the inevitable visuals, Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World is an improvement on its already-excellent Wii U predecessor.”
• Sonny (iOS) – 7/10 – “Sonny is a solid and artistically appealing RPG focused on a challenging combat system that will truly make you think about every move you make.”
• Pokemon Duel (Android) – 6.5/10 – “There’s a good strategy game at the heart of Pokemon Duel, but it’s unfortunately bogged down with microtransactions, a busy UI, loading screens, shallow tutorials, and a weird storyline about winning a skyscraper.”

February

• Fire Emblem: Heroes (iOS) – 6.5/10 – “I could go on and on about the ways in which Fire Emblem Heroes killed its momentum for me. The reward system becomes a bit like early Destiny, except your wallet is the loot cave and the 5-star heroes are legendary engrams that hardly ever drop.”
• Sniper Elite 4 (PS4) – 7.5/10 – “The uninteresting story and inconsistent controls still leave room for improvement in a series that should have addressed these redundancies by now, but as an interactive power fantasy which lets you take down the Nazi Empire, bullet by bullet, it’s easy to overlook the shortcomings of Sniper Elite 4’s old-school sensibilities.”
• Halo Wars 2 (XB1) – 6/10 – “Despite being a game of huge battles and grand designs within the Halo universe, Halo Wars 2 is a game that settles back into the foundations established in the first game instead of pushing forward to break new ground for the franchise.”
• Berserk and the Band of the Hawk (PS4) – 6/10 – “I implore you to buy the manga and read it for yourself, or buy the anime and enjoy Berserk for its story on its own. Here, all it does is keep a middling title afloat in relevancy.”
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – A Criminal Past (PS4) – 6/10 – “A Criminal Past all but confirms that Eidos Montreal doesn’t really know how to construct a fitting ending for Mankind Divided, with a brief and muddled DLC story that disconnects itself from the main campaign in all the wrong ways.”
• Resident Evil 7 (PSVR) – 9/10 – “Resident Evil 7 is a well-paced journey that blends its numerous settings together in a remarkable manner.”
• Chime Sharp (PS4) – 9/10 – “CHVRCHES blares in my headphones as I search for the right entry point of the next tile piece to place on the floor of the latest Chime Sharp grid. Unlike many puzzle games since Tetris, the idea is not about removing the tiles, but using puzzle foresight to cover as much space as possible.”