Destructoid’s award for Overall Best Game of 2017 goes to…

Chris Carter

Published: Dec 22, 2017 12:00 pm

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

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Kept you waiting, huh?

We’ve seen robots with weird life choices overtake the top PS4 slot, Fleischer cartoons made a comeback nearly a century later, and a Nintendo game triumph on mobile. It was a weird, wonderful year, so wonderful that it could give the fabled 2004 and 2011 a run for their money (seriously, go down that rabbit hole sometime).

It was an amazing year for games, but one title dominated the conversation for almost the entirety of 2017 — The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

While an early release is usually the kiss of death for many games come GOTY voting season, Breath of the Wild remained in the conversation. Discussions weren’t always positive, as several of the game’s elements remained contentious (most notably durability and the lack of an ongoing narrative), but many players were drawn to the magic of trying to constantly break the game’s open world. It seems like every week we read about some awesome new makeshift vehicle or weapon that the community had concocted, forging their own stories in the process.

I shared my own level of trials and tribulations, many of which were experienced in a vacuum pre-launch. Although there were some annoyances that would crop up every now and then, most of my time with the game was spent going “I can’t wait until people try this.” Everywhere you walk a puzzle is waiting to be solved, or some diversion is ready to be messed with. And even still, nine months after launch, players are discovering new nuances.

These were some of my favorite moments of 2017, all born out of one game, the beautiful and flawed gift that kept on giving. Thanks for a great year Breath of the Wild, if your Switch legacy wasn’t enough, you’ll forever be remembered as the swan song of the Wii U, Nintendo’s footnote console.