I've been wanting to make a web site to post my stupid opinions for awhile. So here it is! 

Gonna start off the 2018 year by talking about 2017. No real order here.

1. The Nintendo Switch renewed my interest in video games.

I'd been kinda out of the loop for video games the past several years, outside doing Let's Plays I'd later abandon and playing the same old-school jRPGs like usual. Then I got the Switch because open-world Zelda looked cool as hell, and I'm hooked again. Now I'm actually playing and trying out indie games again, trying out new stuff that sounds cool or whatever. Portability is great, I can spend a lunch break playing Golf Story or Slime-san or freaking Breath of the Wild. It helps it has such a solid lineup for a console's first year. Hell, it's been a great year even if you exclude Zelda and Mario. With them, though...

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a Top 5 all-time game for me.

I'm a sucker for open-world games, particularly Bethesda's time sinks. And honestly, I've never been a huge 3D Zelda fan. The only one I really liked was Wind Waker, and that was due moreso for the game's gorgeous presentation, breezy plot, and sense of adventure than the stuff like combat or puzzles that people love the other games for. So Breath of the Wild's misses, like the mostly lackluster shrines or the samey combat or the underwhelming dungeons, weren't as big a deal for me as they were for bigger Zelda fans. In general, many of my favorite games can have major flaws, but if their strengths are utterly fantastic I'll be more than forgiving, and that was the case with Breath of the Wild's sense of exploration. So many, many other people have gone into why the game's open world works in its favor, so I won't waste time there. But that sheer freedom and the framework for it (you're bombing fish to death and shield-surfing to prepare to defeat Ganon!) is enough to elevate the game to an all-time favorite for me and my personal Game of the Year.

3. Slime-san is my pick for overlooked indie game of the year.

You'll always have that one game that you find and love and wish other people would've noticed more. For me, that game is Slime-san. At first, it just seems like a Super Meat Bow clone milking off the retro aesthetic, but it both evolves the SMB concept while making its aesthetic complement both the gameplay and the goofy atmosphere. The simple color scheme means you always know red objects will kill you and that you'll always be able to phase through green objects. The dash move gives you added flexibility in maneuvering the game's twisted levels, while the slo-mo is a handy crutch to be more precise in your jumps, though since it makes you phase through certain objects you also can't fully rely on it. The constantly-rising acid in each level also means you can't just take your time, you have to actively try to reach the exit of the level.

The game just oozes with charm, too. The whole story is you're a slime partnered with a bird who gets swallowed by a giant worm and has to escape. And there's a whole town in that worm! A town you'll constantly recruit new people to! And also you can check in on Slime-san's family if you want. And then there's a huge amount of customization and content, between cosmetic stuff to a large variety of characters, each with their own gameplay gimmicks. And then there's apples to get in each level for added challenge, trophies to get if you speedrun levels fast enough, and a New Game + mode that completely remixes all the levels with added challenge... Yeah, Slime-san is phenomenal in pretty much every aspect for me, and I highly recommend giving a try on Steam or downloading the demo on the Switch if you get a chance.

4. People now know who Yoko Taro is.

NieR: Automata was a good experience for me overall, though it wasn't a favorite of mine. It took until Route C for me to actually connect with the story, and other than the phenomenal Ending E it didn't really click with me the way the original NieR's characters did. But it's frankly a miracle we got Automata at all, and I'm still incredibly happy that the game was a success and Yoko Taro went from being some random weirdo to a legitimately-respected game auteur (who's still a weirdo). The guy has a real knack for taking advantage of the medium while adding his own bizarre touch to bring some humanity in games that don't seem to have any at first glance. I'm glad the guy's becoming a bigger name and eagerly await what insanity he has coming next.

5. I'm bored now so I'm going to end it here.