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[Steveo]

I bought pretty much every major release this quarter. The quarter was very good but not sure if it is extraordinary.

BotW is the best of the bunch and is the only one bordering on a classic. Horizon is very good. RE7 was revitalizing. Aside from these 3, a lot of 7/10 games.

Nier and Nioh while good games are a bit overstated in the sense that these are two nice 7/10 games your see come out in any quarter. They're not exceptional per se. They don't rank higher than a For Honor in my estimation.

Yakuza 0 while good is a late release and is another Yakuza game. Gravity Rush 2 I think I like more than most but also is another Gravity Rush game. Meaning that could easily have padre on both games because the predecessors have matched or surpassed them.

Zelda and Horizon are what carry this quarter by a wide margin.

I actually feel Zelda is way overrated. There's glaring issues that keep it from being one of the greatest all time... can't help but feel Zelda being a Switch launch title is bolstering it's love somewhat.

I would put Nier and Nioh a head of Zelda. I do feel Gravity Rush 2 is pretty overrated as well.

 

[Purest 78]

Amazing is the only thing I can say.

 

[Wesley-Sigma]

As someone with esoteric tastes, it has been nothing short of incredible.

 

[lord_of_flood]

It's been pretty great for me. Nioh, NieR, and Zelda have all been great games for me. I'm surprised I've been able to make time for them, honestly.

 

[Zetta]

Only word that comes to mind is exhausting. I need more hours in the day to finish all these damn games and then I can go back to play more Nioh.

 

[Fracas]

Zelda is excellent and horizon, nier and nioh look cool

Pretty apathetic toward everything else

 

[crpav]

Only thing I can say/ask is "Microsoft and XBox you still alive?". This coming from a big XBox fan but overall a fan of gaming and having every system and have purchased most of the recent big games.

 

[batrush]

Just too good.

 

[Poimandres]

I think if you take Zelda out of the equation, you're left with a very strong quarter. Its inclusion single-handedly changes it from a strong quarter to a truly remarkable one.

Zelda is great but man... Talk about hyperbole.

Anyway, I could survive the rest of the year based on this Q alone quite easily. Lot's of meaty time consuming titles released. Really brings me back to the PS2 era.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Zelda is great but man... Talk about hyperbole.

I don't think so. If Zelda hadn't released, I'd see a very strong first quarter. One of the strongest first quarters in recent memory with games like Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7, Nioh, Horizon, and Nier. But not one of the strongest quarters, period. That's just one guy's opinion, but I certainly don't consider it hyperbole.

To be honest though, even with Zelda and the Switch launch, I don't consider this to be one of the best gaming quarters of all time. But I do think it makes the argument for that much stronger.

 

[Jerm411]

It gave me my favorite hardware launch in quite some time and an all time classic game right alongside with it....not to mention other great games like Horizon, Nioh, RE7, etc. so it goes down as one of the best ever and leaves me very happy.

 

[Poimandres]

I don't think so. If Zelda hadn't released, I'd see a very strong first quarter. One of the strongest first quarters in recent memory with games like Yakuza 0, Resident Evil 7, Nioh, Horizon, and Nier. But not one of the strongest quarters, period. That's just one guy's opinion, but I certainly don't consider it hyperbole.

I wouldn't say it's one of the strongest quarters ever, but certainly a contender for top Q1. I've officially reached the point where I think Zelda is being over praised (I felt this with Witcher 3, Bloodborne etc as well). There are people here talking like its the only great game released this Q. Anyway, don't want to derail the thread just because I get hype whiplash.

 

[Gunmonkey36]

Top Q1? Top Q1.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I wouldn't say it's one of the strongest quarters ever, but certainly a contender for top Q1. I've officially reached the point where I think Zelda is being over praised (I felt this with Witcher 3, Bloodborne etc as well). There are people here talking like its the only great game released this Q. Anyway, don't want to derail the thread just because I get hype whiplash.

I definitely don't think it's the only great game released this year, as Resident Evil 7 is one of my favorite games of this generation and I have a strong feeling I'm going to fall head over heels for Nier when I finally get around to it. And I absolutely think it's fair to consider this to be one of the bet Q1s ever.

Also, Bloodborne can never, ever be praised enough.

 

[Turkoop]

This is definitely the best Q1 ever. Great range of absolute fantastic games. I hope by the end of the year, we will see more awesome games!

 

[T.O.P]

Nier-RE7-Zelda

Couldn't be happier

 

[Canucked]

It's been a phenomenal season. I haven't been this jazzed about gaming in years. And I don't feel like I've gotten to half of the good stuff that's been released so far.

 

[Elandyll]

How was this not 1st page?

 

[Peltz]

Zelda is still blowing my mind after 60 hours.

I haven't played much else from this year yet, but I look forward to Horizon and Nier.

 

[Dio]

Nier and Nioh while good games are a bit overstated in the sense that these are two nice 7/10 games your see come out in any quarter. They're not exceptional per se. They don't rank higher than a For Honor in my estimation.

I don't agree with this. Nier is possibly one of the most important games this generation, in my opinion. It has important things to say, and actually delves quite deeply into the nature of existence rather than simply leaving things 'I said something profound' and revelling in the question without answering it - it gets its hands dirty, philosophy wise.

It's got a beautifully desolate world, with amazing character designs, tight combat, interesting characters, a great story, et cetera and only gets better after you finish the first ending (which is like 1/3 of the game and is more like a chapter in a longer book.)

I have to say, there are people who experienced this game and felt the way they did when they first played FF7 when it came out. I can understand that - this game does things no other series does, and does it with fantastic execution.

 

[Primethius]

I had a really fantastic quarter. Out of the stuff I played, my top 5 right now are:

1) Horizon
2) Nier (will probably move up once I beat it)
3) Yakuza 0
4) Breath of the Wild
5) Nioh

Love it. One of the best starts to any gaming year and we are only a few months in. Absolutely ridiculous.

 

[ElBoxyBrown]

Ubisoft right now:

 

[Bahorel]

The first quarter of 2017 is ending soon, and most games slated for this time window have been released, what are your thoughts on them? Which did you like the most? Why? Was there any surprise to you this Q1?

To remind everyone, the notable (AAA or games with a good overall critic appreciation) games that released between January and March IMO were:

January - Gravity Rush 2, Resident Evil 7, Yakuza 0, Tales of Berseria.
February - Nioh, For Honor, Sniper Elite 4, Halo Wars 2, Hollow Knight, Horizon: Zero Dawn.
March - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Nier: Automata, Styx: Shards of Darkness, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Toukiden 2.

Additionally, what are your hopes for Q2? Is there anything you have your eye on?

Lovely graphic, OP! Can't stop staring at it, well done.

 

[Son Of Sparda]

Best gaming related quarter of all time. At least for me.

 

[Aaronology]

Q1, via HZD, introduced both my favorite female protagonist, best science fiction story and most hated character in gaming. So it's been pretty damn remarkable.

 

[IvorB]

It's been an outstanding quarter for sure. The Japanese invasion has been pretty great to see, Sony first-party doing what they do and Nintendo seems to have dazzled people. Good effort all round.

For me the star of the show is Nioh. Team Ninja are talking my language with that game.

 

[VanCityGamer]

Disappointing quarter overall, actually.

I enjoyed Resident Evil 7 but not as much as I hoped. Good but not amazing IMO.

For Honor ended up not being for me.

Ghost Recon Wildlands turned out to be generic shit in terms of single player.

Mass Effect Andromeda looks to be good not great. I'll probably enjoy it as a Mass Effect fan but was hoping for more greatness.

I don't play Nintendo systems. Not into Yakuza, Nioh, or Nier.

Thank god for Horizon Zero Dawn. That game is fuckin incredible.

 

[Neff]

Fucking awesome?

 

[grosvenor_92]

Seems like the strongest Q1 in quite a while in terms of games. There's a few that have come out I may get in the future mainly Mass Effect, Nier and Zelda perhaps

Nintendo also seems to be recovering from the poor sales of the Wii-U so far with the strong sales of the Switch

 

[Replicant]

Too many contents for short period of time. The fact that at least 2 or 3 of them are RPGs are not helping. I don't have much time for gaming these days so I'm really struggling trying to finish even 1 game. :/

 

[tiebreaker]

I played Yakuza early this year and I thought it would be my GoTY, I didn't expect it to be that amazing. Then I played Horizon, well maybe this one, running around hunting machines never get old.

And now I'm playing Zelda.... 2017 just keeps delivering.

 

[GHG]

Disappointing quarter overall, actually.

I enjoyed Resident Evil 7 but not as much as I hoped. Good but not amazing IMO.

For Honor ended up not being for me.

Ghost Recon Wildlands turned out to be generic shit in terms of single player.

Mass Effect Andromeda looks to be good not great. I'll probably enjoy it as a Mass Effect fan but was hoping for more greatness.

I don't play Nintendo systems. Not into Yakuza, Nioh, or Nier.

Thank god for Horizon Zero Dawn. That game is fuckin incredible.

Plays all the generic cookie cutter AAA games, dismisses all of the unique critically acclaimed titles that came out and then says the quarter was dissapointing.

What did you really expect?

 

[HeisenbergWW62]

Fixed it

(Disclaimer: I am a big Mass Effect fan but Andromeda is such a disappointment on many different level that I feel like it just doesn't deserve to be in the hall of the ''Quality Q1 2017 Titles'' )

He's banned now but GR2 should be taken out instead of Mass Effect *hides*

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I dont think i've ever seen a 3 month span like this.

I platinum'd Gravity Rush 2, Resident Evil VII, Horizon, AND Nier. I also beat Nioh and im working on Zelda right now. Persona 5 just misses Q1, its insane.

 

[DISSESHOWEDO]

Ome of the bests first quarters ever. So much games, so much diversity and my backlog is pilling up.

 

[Creaking]

Terrible year for games. It's all Japanese and SJW crap

Spoiler

/s /s /s /s /s and my apologies

 

[LotusHD]

He's banned now but GR2 should be taken out instead of Mass Effect *hides*

Yea you better hide!

 

[MaximumSpider]

It was so good and Q2 is starting up with P5. :'D

 

[ChasingComets]

One of the closest in recent memory we've ever gotten to the magical Q4 of 2004. If P5 wasn't delayed I think my bias might even make me put it on par.

For reference, that quarter gave us: GTA: San Andreas, Halo 2, Metriod Prime 2, MGS3, Half Life 2, World of Warcraft, Paper Mario, and many others that would've easily been at the top of their quarter if it wasn't for these titans.

Edit: Actually I revise my opinion, the gap is still pretty wide. But it definitely ranks among the top Q1s I've ever seen.

 

[DangerMouse]

Fucking awesome.
And Q2 is gonna continue it with P5 etc!

That's a great pic of the quarter

He's banned now but GR2 should be taken out instead of Mass Effect *hides*

You better hide!

/beaten already

 

[Rozart]

I was looking at OP's set of pretty graphics and thinking, "Wth. Blood & Wine was /not/ released this year."

/feels dumb. And I've put in a hefty amount of hours into Nioh too. I need sleep. Anyway, Q1 has seriously been one of the best gaming periods in recent memory. The most prevailing thought that I have right now though is: "Oh crap. I'm broke."

My favourite game out of the bunch (that I've played) would probably have to be Nioh. The diablo-esque loot system is honestly pretty addicting. That feeling when I managed to score a High Stance Ki reduction + High Stance Skill Attack axe....It's great stuff. The only blip in this otherwise fantastic deluge of great games is ME:A. As a fan of Bioware's games, I wanted to form my own impressions of the game despite the barrage of negative reviews. And well...I'm only about an hour or so in but so far, the game has been seriously disappointing. I have so many gripes abt the game and I'm just hoping that what some people have said about it getting better as it progresses is true. Because I'm getting some bad FFXIII flashbacks here.

On a more positive note, Persona 5 is coming out in two weeks! ✨✨

 

[phantasmic_glaive]

While I don't agree with everything in this post (I think you're undervaluing games like Nioh and Nier, for example), I do agree with its overall premise.

I think if you take Zelda out of the equation, you're left with a very strong quarter. Its inclusion single-handedly changes it from a strong quarter to a truly remarkable one.

Oh, baloney... this quarter was great before Zelda even came out and still would be without its inclusion.

I would even put Nier and Niohs gameplay over Zeldas.. especially the others I don't care to mention. I wish people would stop building this ugly tower around Zelda, it's getting old already.

It's freaking Zelda it's supposed to be great and lead the pack of a triumphant quarter of games.

Edit: This train doesn't stop tho! Persona 5 is coming and hopefully (it will) be greater than 4.

 

[VanCityGamer]

Plays all the generic cookie cutter AAA games, dismisses all of the unique critically acclaimed titles that came out and then says the quarter was dissapointing.

What did you really expect?

I think it's pretty clear what I expected. I hoped Mass Effect Andromeda would continue the greatness of the trilogy. Those were incredible games. That alone alongside the fantastic Horizon Zero Dawn would make the quarter a success. I also hoped Ghost Recon Wildlands would be better for single player gamers than it is. I really enjoyed The Division and most other Ubisoft games. RE 7 was also good but was a bit disappointing. So yeah, there's lots of diversity there. Just because games are mainstream doesn't make them bad. I love many of those games and like very few niche games generally. I make no apologies for not being interested in games like Yakuza, Nioh, or Nier.

 

[facetheslayer92]

One of the closest in recent memory we've ever gotten to the magical Q4 of 2004. If P5 wasn't delayed I think my bias might even make me put it on par.

For reference, that quarter gave us: GTA: San Andreas, Halo 2, Metriod Prime 2, MGS3, Half Life 2, World of Warcraft, Paper Mario, and many others that would've easily been at the top of their quarter if it wasn't for these titans.

Edit: Actually I revise my opinion, the gap is still pretty wide. But it definitely ranks among the top Q1s I've ever seen.

Lol, came to post just this not to mention it also gave us Burnout 3 Takedown which has a fucking 93 Metacritic and Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal which is a 91. Q4 in 2001, 2007, and 2011 were good, but 2004 was just on another level.

Edit: Burnout 3 would be Q3 I guess, but my point still stands.

 

[Dremorak]

Meh, it was alright.

Spoiler

Are you kidding with this thread OP? It was amazing lol. Best Quarter I cna think of. Depending how Mario and Splatoon shake out along with other surprise releases, this year could be up there.

 

[Hiltz]

I thought Q1 was really good. As a fairly new PS4 owner, I bought Yakuza 0, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Neir so far this year. However, I have to admit that I have not finished any of my PS4 games mainly because OverWatch takes up most of my free time, but also because all those three 2017 games are open world-based, so I feel more compelled to take my time and explore instead of progressing through the story and skip most of the side missions. Although, I'm a bit lost in Horizon at the moment...

Spoiler

trying to backtrack from Mother's Cradle area to find that monster in the first side quest.

. Then in Neir, I only recently got past the

Spoiler

Amusement Park area and went to the robot village.

I'm not sure what else is coming out in Q2, but Persona 5 will perhaps be the last game I buy for a while due to a growing backlog of games.

 

[iHaunter]

Two bumps in the road but overall probably the best quarter in gaming history?

 

[brickarts295]

Completed (5):
-REVII (Complete) 9/10 an excellent re-entry game for the series, loved everything about it.
-Hitman S1 (Complete) 8/10 missed out on it digital, rented it and I liked it. I end up buying S2.
-Gravity Rush 2 (Complete) 8/10 really good game, had some issue with controls and some of side content dragged the game bit.
-Nier Automata (Complete) 8.5/10 loved it, gameplay was solid and story was good.
-Fire Emblem Heroes (Complete) 7.5/10 it's an FE game on mobile. Game is addicting but the story is meh and the summons can be frustrating.

InCompleted (4):
-Yakuza 0 (Incomplete) really good game, loving the side missions. Just haven't had the time to go back to it.
-Nioh (Incomplete) just did the first area and boss. I can tell the game is really good but I know its going to be a long one so I'm going to put on the side until Summer.
-Horizon Zero Dawn (Incomplete) BEAUTIFUL game, can't wait to go back to it but...
-Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Incomplete) This game is taking over my live, I can't finish it but I don't want it to end!
-Mass Effect Andromeda (Incomplete) Meh opening, but the story is intriguing so I'll definitely go back after I finish some of former backlog games.

In Conclusion: Most likely the best Q1 is have ever seen in my life. And I can tell because I'm a heavy Gamefly user who rents and gets all the new games during release window every year.

 

[MarineMountie]

Bought and would rank them like this in the best Q1 I can remember...I'm 31.

1. Horizon - Only one I have finished. GOTY for me so far, and Aloy is my new favorite protagonist.

2. NieR: Automata - 2B is amazing, the story is amazing and weird at the same time, the combat really keeps you glued.

3. Zelda: BotW - Enjoying my time with it, but lacks an interesting story and combat is just OK. Exploration is its strong point.

4. Nioh - Dropped it to play Horizon. Probably won't go back to it simply because of backlog. Was enjoying my time with it, but won't want to re-learn the mechanics.

5. Mass Effect: Andromeda - Only played 2 hours. Can't really give my impressions yet.

6. For Honor - Its good for what it is, but not something I see myself playing a year from now like I am Rainbow Six Siege.

 

[Goldboy]

Absolutely amazing quarter, I've only had time to play Horizon and RE7 though.