Worst RPG

Game of the Year

Best DLC Horizon Zero Dawn - The Frozen Wilds

With Horizon Zero Dawn setting a high-water mark for excellence early on in 2017, Guerrilla Games had a tall order on its hands when it came time to release the game's first DLC, The Frozen Wilds, near the end of the year. The developer proved more than capable of providing a package worthy of standing next to its much-lauded older sibling, though on a smaller scale. The winners were RPGamers, who got more of the astonishing graphics, excellent soundwork, and nail-biting combat, along with an emotionally impactful narrative that also served to enrich the lore of the core game, set in a massive new area. New enemy types, weapons and armor sets, and an entirely new skill tree to invest points into capped off a must-own DLC package for fans of the original game, and helps make the game feel truly complete.

by Pascal Tekaia

Best Non-RPG Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

My despair is palpable! In a year where I played a surprisingly large number of visual novels, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped on it, then offered it coyly back, only to cruelly toss it back on the floor for more abuse before walking away with a cheerful whistle. It has learned an important lesson in pacing compared to the previous titles, placing the longest cases in the middle of the game, keeping the starting and ending trials shorter when my nerves were so frayed that had the cases dragged on any longer they would have felt anti-climactic. New mini-games help give each case moments of variety and levity, which is odd considering it's a game about killing people. I'm really curious where the future of the Danganronpa series lies, because there's SO many places it can go now, and it securely earns a spot as Best Non-RPG in my heart, and the hearts of many others on staff, for 2017. Puhuhuhu~

by Anna Marie Privitere

Most Played / Most Completed Persona 5

After years of rumors and teases, including many shifting release windows and a new platform, Persona 5 finally hit North America this year. Considering that the RPGamer staff were such big fans of Persona 3 and Persona 4, it was hard for us to not pick up Persona 5. Two-thirds of the RPGamer staff picked it up, which is impressive considering that the next most played game, Breath of the Wild, had a less than fifty percent play rate. Not only did the staff play Persona 5 the most, it was also our most completed game despite being such a massive undertaking. With nearly a 42% completion rate compared to 33% on the runner-up Horizon Zero Dawn, this was one of the highest completion percentages for a game in the past few years. Not too shabby for a game that averages around ninety hours to finish for most people.

by Michael A. Cunningham