26/01/2018
I wrote an end of year Top Ten list at the end of 2017. I am uploading it now.
Life is hard.
LIST:
Top ten TV shows of 2017
1) The Good Place – Series 2
What is it?
The Good Place follows four characters who are in the afterlife. In this universe there is a ‘good place’ and a ‘bad place’. In series 1, the characters are told they are in the ‘good place’. But, as we found out at the end of series one (spoilers) this isn’t true. They are actually in the bad place, being tortured.
Why is it good?
I actually abandoned series one of The Good Place because I thought it wasn’t going anywhere. Boy, was I wrong. Series two starts off at some speed and then just picks up from there. Episode three, for example, covers over a hundred incarnations of Michael’s Good Place project. Series two has switched up its formula so many times, I genuinely have no idea where it’s going. No show has managed to consistently surprise me like The Good Place. It helps that the characterisation and comedy are really solid.
2) Dark Matter – Series 3
What is it?
A science fiction show about a crew of mercenaries on the run from their past. It features great characterisation and a plethora of entertaining self-contained storylines.
Why is it good?
Dark Matter placed second on my list last year as well, that’s fun. Dark Matter is just really good television. It’s never really great but that’s okay. The story is well written and interesting, the characters show consistent growth and act according to their motivation… it’s just really good.
Sadly, this is the last series of Dark Matter we’re going to get as it was cancelled after the end of series three. This was seemingly to prove that we’re not allowed nice things. In order to rub salt into the wound, the infinitely inferior Killjoys (Dark Matter’s sister show) was renewed for two more series. Urg.
3) My Hero Academia – Series 1 & 2, Little Witch Academia
What are they?
Two anime shows about life in a school for superheroes & witches respectively. I’m including anime this year because I went on my honeymoon to Japan last year and that got me back into anime in a big way.
Why are they good?
I’m including both of these shows in one slot because they’re basically the same show, it’s just one is designed to appeal to boys, the other to girls. My Hero is a long running action series focusing on themes of responsibility, ambition and abuse. Little Witch is a lovely, heart warming show about friendship, perseverance and bringing joy to those that need it. They’re both great. They boast great characters, good story and wonderful animation.
4) Game of Thrones – Series 7
What is it?
Don’t play that game, you know exactly what Game of Thrones is.
Why is it good?
Game of Thrones is only this high on the list because when it’s good it’s really good. This series saw more than a few wobbles, though. Inconsistent plotting, constant disregarding of the laws of physics and endless teleporting armies and fleets. It also decided what the series really needed was to replace Ramsay Bolton with an equally annoying, boring character. Euron Greyjoy, I hate you so much.
5) Lucifer – Series 2 / start of series 3
What is it?
A show about a crime solving devil. It makes sense, don’t overthink it.
Why is it good?
It really shouldn’t be. There is no way in hell (ha!) that this show should be as good as it is. Despite the, frankly, ridiculous premise, it manages to be really smartly plotted and has really grown beyond its crime procedural roots. Tricia Helfer was introduced as Lucifer’s mother/Charlotte Richards in series 2 and has really helped the show explore themes of maturing, betrayal and identity. It’s also really funny.
6) Speechless – Series 2
What is it?
A heart-warming comedy staring Mini Driver about a special needs family.
Why is it good?
Its treatment of disability is wonderfully positive. It’s really funny and (as with basically every show on this list) it has really great characters. A stand out episode this year was the Halloween special where JJ taught an Exorcist-daemon about life with a disability.
7) Recovery of an MMO Junkie
What is it?
A woman in her 30s quits her job and throws herself into living in a massively multiplayer online RPG. Hijinks, hilarity and romance ensues.
Why is it so good?
It’s an anime that stars a non-objectified woman in her 30s. This makes it almost unique for an anime. It’s just a really cute, heart warming story. It’s got enough plot contrivances to fill a standard Shakespearian comedy but I think it gets away with it. We’ll have to see how the series progresses (only six episodes have aired at the time of writing) as there is potential for the romance between two of the main characters to get a little creepy, but so far it’s really good.
8) Doctor Who: Series 10
What is it?
Steven Moffat’s final series of Doctor Who. I fear I may cry.
Why is it good?
Fun fact, I initially placed this series much higher on the list. The final two episodes were so good, they pretty much eclipsed the rest of the series for me. I then went back and went through the episode list to remind me what the rest of the series was like.
Not Very Good is the short answer.
Most of the episodes had decent ambition but fell back on cliched writing. Some had a flimsy premise and failed to do anything interesting with it. Others fell into the trap that has plagued Doctor Who’s revival since its inception and relied on weak, hand-wavey conclusions.
Pearl Mackie’s Bill was a great companion who had a nice arc and Michelle Gomez’s Missy was just stunning. In fact, the characterisation in this series of Doctor Who was possibly the strongest it’s ever been. It’s just a shame the storylines weren’t there to back up the characters.
9) Brooklyn Nine Nine – Series 5
What is it?
A sitcom about a group of misfit detectives in a New York police department.
Why is it good?
Remarkably, Brooklyn Nine Nine is still really quite funny. Sitcoms never usually manage to stay funny, let alone entertaining past their second series. Nine Nine has managed it!
10) Robot Wars – Series 10
What is it?
A fighting Robot show
Why is it good?
I’ll be honest, this year Robot Wars is only here because there haven’t been that many good shows and I needed to pad the list a bit. That’s not to say the series hasn’t been good, it’s just nothing particularly wonderful. That being said, we have seen possibly the biggest surprise of any series of Robot Wars ever this year, in that Nuts 2 won a place in the grand final. Not by luck, not by a technicality but by being genuinely better than every other robot it went up against. And it went up against some pretty good robots. I don’t think anyone expected that. I’ll be so happy if it wins the series.
Top Two TV Disappointments:
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series 3
Last year I was worried that the writers wouldn’t be able to keep up the quality of their work. I was right to be worried.
Teachers series 2
I remember series one being funnier than that was on offer in series two.
Top Ten Games of 2017:
1) Hellblade
What is it?
A walkie-talkie/third person hack and slash game starring a woman with severe psychosis.
Why is it good?
It’s good just good, it’s great. The story is amazing, the graphics are wonderful, the gameplay is inventive… but most of all, this is a game that provided me with a completely unique experience. I have never felt like I understood what it is like to have psychosis before this game. I now feel like I’ve taken a glimpse into that world. It’s pretty bloody amazing.
2) Prey
What is it?
Sci-Fi Dishonoured
Why is it good?
Prey took everything I liked about Dishonoured and turned it up to 11, whilst losing a lot of the more tedious stuff. Its middle act is a bit weak but I still love the freedom the game offers. The story is surprisingly smart and I had a great time with mimics.
3) The Sexy Brutale
What is it?
A game where you prevent the murders of your best friends, who are caught in a time loop.
Why is it good?
It’s got a nice original gameplay gimmick (for those, like me, who haven’t played Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective) and a really good story. The design and characters are really good and it’s got some nice, if simple, puzzles.
4) Echo
What is it?
A third person action game where the game learns from your actions and uses those actions as the basis for the AI.
Why is it good?
This isn’t so much a unique idea as a refinement of something that has been tried multiple times before. It works so well in Echo because it doesn’t try to hide the process by which the AI learns from you. On the contrary, it draws your attention to every new move it learns from you. Because of this, the game is never unfair, it’s just very brutal. It’s a great horror game. It’s oppressive and relentless. It also boasts a good story and wonderful art direction. It’s only so far down this list because there have been so many great games this year.
5) Wolfenstein 2
What is it?
The sequel to my joint favourite game of 2014.
Why is it good?
It boasts the same awesome gameplay from The New Order, which helps a lot. It is quite a lot darker, at least in the early hours, which is both good and bad. There are a few dud levels and it does struggle to follow in The New Order’s footsteps. There are a few great moments and the gameplay is as good as it was… it’s just that there are a few mis steps and missed opportunities. We didn’t need to know the protagonist’s back story, for instance. Also, it’s a real shame we never really got to massacre the KKK, especially in the current political climate.
6) What remains of Edith Finch
What is it?
A walking simulator about the Finch family who may be cursed or may suffer from being absolutely terrible human beings.
Why is it good?
Edith Finch made it onto this list because of the Cannery level. Those that have played the game know why. Generally, it’s a good walking simulator. It didn’t grab me as much as Gone Home and it’s not as inventive as either of Davey Wreden’s efforts. Still, it’s good, just (in my opinion) not great.
7) X-Com 2: War of the Chosen
What is it?
It’s an expansion to one of my favourite games of last year.
Why is it good?
Well it’s not great. There’s a bit of a quality dip at this point on the list. War of the Chosen is good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not exactly mind blowing. It makes X: Com 2 a fair bit better, but it compensates for this by fucking the difficulty curve up really badly. For me, the game was either far too hard or annoyingly easy, depending on how the random elements fell.
8) The Surge
What is it?
A Souls-like game with fewer boss fights.
Why is it good?
I’ve never played a Souls-like game before because I hate hate hate boss fights. The Surge was pretty fun. The gameplay is good, the fight system is entertaining. I think the difficulty is a bit of a crutch. The game levels are really quite small and I’m suspicious that the game is so difficult in order to disguise the fact that this is a five-hour game stretched over thirty hours.
9) Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider
What is it?
A stand-alone expansion for Dishonoured 2.
Why is it good?
It’s not really. Not that good anyway. Death of the Outisder really needs you to have played the expansions from Dishonoured 1, which I haven’t. So the plot had nothing for me. And when you’re not on board for the story, Death of the Outsider doesn’t have much to keep the player around. The levels are fine, but not great. It particularly suffers given it came out in the same year as Prey.
10) Mass Effect: Andromeda
What is it?
The latest Bioware disappointment.
Why is it good?
It’s fine. It has some good characters and some good plot moves and some fun gameplay… but it’s nothing special. The days when Bioware used to be relied on to make the best games around are well and truly behind us.