2017 has been nothing short of a landmark year for video games. In addition to acclaimed entries in some of our favorite series of all time, we’ve also seen entirely new experiences that subverted our expectations and made us remember why we fell in love with the medium. YouTube user Malcolm Klock has created a two-minute supercut showing the best games of 2017.
Set to music from the underrated The Evil Within 2, Klock’s video begins with a look at some of the most breathtaking vistas we’ve seen in 2017, including areas of Assassin’s Creed Origins, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Rime, as well as beautiful water locations in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Each of these games offered a new spin on the broad “action-adventure” genre, with both Breath of the Wild and Assassin’s Creed Origins reinventing several key elements of their respective series.
Next, Klock highlights some of the most memorable characters from 2017, including Chloe Price from Life is Strange: Before the Storm, William Pierson from Call of Duty: WWII, William from Nioh, and Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The Lost Legacy was eligible for inclusion as it was a standalone expansion, while downloadable content and remastered gamers weren’t shown in the video at all.
The supercut includes a few minor spoilers as it highlights painful and emotional moments in 2017 games, including fiery scenes in both Hellblade and The Evil Within 2, as well as an injury suffered by a particularly important character in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus — if you’ve made it more than 30 minutes into these games, you don’t have to worry about the video ruining a surprise.
Klock also included some great action scenes in the video, such as a battle between Superman and Batman in Injustice 2, a showdown with a robot dinosaur in Horizon Zero Dawn, and the Baker family destroying their mansion in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Things then wind down for a brief moment of reflection, ending on a gorgeous shot of Princess Zelda overlooking a forest in Hyrule. We can only hope 2018 can have as many great video games as this year — and that loot boxes will be killed for good. You can check out Klock’s other year-in-gaming videos on his channel, going back all the way to 2011.
