Super Mario Odyssey! Never has a 3D platformer controlled better.
2nd place would be Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
Both in my all time top 10.

What a fantastic year.

I remember The Surge, it was "oh, Soulslike, let's give it a try" moment...although previous attempt at that, Lords of the Fallen, ended up with me giving up after day or two (I felt the "levels" are uninspiring). Unfortunately, this was very similar - I've recognized very good mechanisms and gameplay, but I just couldn't get into setting at all in Surge. I guess, when it comes to 3D Soulslikes (since I seem to be a lot more tolerant when it comes to 2D Soulslikes), setting is one of the most important aspects for me - all in all, so far (didn't play Nioh though), I think only one that I actually finished is Mortal Shell.

I had fun with a lot of games not mentioned so far.

Mighty Gunvolt Burst was really special for me with its customisation and more accessible difficulty level than the Mega Man and Mega Man X series. Played really nicely on the 3DS too!

A Hat In Time was a great 3D platformer bursting with ideas that continued to get polish to help it keep sparkling as recently as a few weeks ago.

Death Squared was a great multiplayer puzzle game that did really well on Switch.
Always fun figuring out the solution while (mostly) trying not to kill those working alongside you.

Mr. Shifty was one I felt I came upon after it had been polished a bit and I really enjoyed it at the time. A short action game with simple mechanics that felt right in the moment, with stages that demonstrated and helped you make full use of your abilities.

Snipperclips was a brilliant showcase for the Switch and Joy-Cons that with its simple controls, premise and graphics was easy to get plenty of less regular gamers involved with. Some of those little levels made great memories.

I was happy to see Golf Story get a mention which was very special to me at the time.

I had a lot of fun with the Nintendo juggernauts of the year as well. I think I would describe 2017 as a very hopeful year for games.

There's a day like today where I immediately went on to select BOTW without thinking because the experience I had the time was prolly one of the most significant in gaming at the time and technically nothing has replicated it on that front ... An incredible world of discoveries where you are asked only to weave your own tapestry of adventures with some incredible physic based abilities.
Zelda BOTW was the game I needed.


If it hadn't come out, then my choice would go to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, it has some quirks that might have not meshed with some but those aspects are completely overshadowed by the overwhelming quality of other aspects like it's music which in hindsight I'd consider like of the best OST in the history of the medium, the complexity of it's character writing and story sequences that culminates in some of the peakest moments the JRPG genre ever had in it's second half.

So yeah, BOTW was the game of that year but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was the game for my heart

Yeah, this is what I found it to be really great, especially for having feints, which is so rare in games these days - I'd actually like to see Soulslke built with that combat. Everything else...let's just say I didn't care one bit for any of it.

I don't think there's ever been such an improvement year over year in the overall quality of the industry. So many games that could easily be on a 'greatest of all time list' from so many developers. Even without the shock the Switch and games like BOTW and Mario Odessey were to the industry, the PS4 and XB1 really kicked into gear with their lineups this year.

Breath of The Wild, but a close second for me is Super Mario Odyssey. :)

I'll go with Assassin's Creed: Origins. It was by no means perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I've actually been interested in playing it again at some point. I have a suspicion that I'd vote for Breath of the Wild, had I played it, but I haven't so too bad. Divinity: Original Sin II is also another interesting one, but again, haven't played it.

Final Honourable mention:
Putty Pals is a very sweet co-op platformer. Not a long game, but from memory it was my partner’s game of the year and it got a decent amount of play in our house.
Terrific achievement for a game born from a student project.

A Hat in Time! Another game I've enjoyed a lot but somehow forgot about! Whelp *edits my first post on this thread*, there, I think that's the right place for it.

EDIT 2: Also adding Alwa's Awakening. I didn't think of it as a 2017 game 'cause I didn't notice its existence until it came out on the Switch the next year. Unlike many modern games that pay some homage to 2D classics of the 8-bit era, Alwa's Awakening did everything in its power to replicate the exact feel of games from that time with appreciable modern embellishments. It's a Metroidvania you could be persuaded actually was an NES game that you just missed 30 years ago even though it's new. Every once in a while, I think purist nostalgia of this sort really does have its merits too, especially if you're as old as me.

Wow, this really was the year to end all years in gaming history.