On this week’s show, we gave our Game of the Year awards out to 14 different categories. In case you missed the fun, but can’t wait for the produced show (or the Early Birdo Special to our patrons), you can find all of our selections here! What do you think, do you agree with our choices? Did we miss a truly amazing game you want to get recognition? Let us know in the comments below!
Biggest Surprise of 2017
Bayonetta 3 surprise announcement
Runners Up:
How fast the Switch hit 10 million sales
DOOM/Skyrim/Wolfenstein on Switch
Despite the myriad of surprise announcements this year, the surprise reveal of Bayonetta 3 ended up stealing the show for Biggest Surprise. We were similarly shocked by how popular the Switch has been, and by the amazing 3rd party support we’ve seen.
Best 3rd Party Game of 2017
Sonic Mania
Runners Up:
Minecraft
Rocket League
Monster Hunter XX
In a moment that surprised us all, Sonic Mania won out as our favorite 3rd party title, beating out some of our personal favorites such as Minecraft and Monster Hunter. This was largely due to the more unique aspects Mania provided as opposed to these others titles, which were ports of already existing games.
Best New Character
Kass (Breath of the Wild)
Runners Up:
Pearl & Marina (Splatoon 2)
The Cast of Arms
The Four Champions
There were a lot of amazing characters who made their appearance in 2017, but the enigmatic Kass from Breath of the Wild proved to be the team’s favourite. As we were unable to have too many nominees, certain ones, like the four champions and the entire ARMS cast, had to be lumped together.
Best New IP
ARMS
Runners Up:
Vroom in the Night Sky
Stardew Valley
Ever Oasis
This one was a clear choice. A number of other games emerged for the first time this year, but none of them hold a candle to ARMS. That said, two of us got a lot of joy out of Vroom in The Night Sky, Stardew Valley topped some people’s selections, and we felt Ever Oasis deserved a nod.
Best Indie of 2017
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment
Runner Up:
Golf Story
We were very limited on this one, as most of us haven’t played many indies this year. That said, the new campaign in Shovel Knight won out. Interestingly, Golf Story got second place through word of mouth; even though only one of us had physically played it, what we saw and heard was enough to give it runner up status.
Worst Tasting Nintendo Product of 2017
Switch Game Cartridge
Do we even have to say anything? It tastes like a combination of Raid bug spray, lethal plastic by-product and whatever the Pokémon Garbodor is made of. And if we ever hit $250 on Patreon, we’ll be licking one each week on Infendo Radio.
Best New Amiibo
Bayonetta
Runners Up:
Super Mario Cereal
Poochy
“Squidgy” Metroid
A working cereal box, a Poochy made of string and a squishable Metroid were all top choices for their originality, but in the end Bayonetta won because of its sharp, well-made design and the fact that 3rd Party amiibo just feel more special. Also, there was probably some Bayonetta 3 hype behind this one as well.
Biggest Disappointment of the Year
Monster Hunter support dropped from Nintendo consoles
Runners Up:
Scalpers… scalpers everywhere
Yooka Laylee Delaylee
Scalpers have made this year a tough one for collectors, and the 8 month Yooka Laylee delay killed some hype, but the soul-crushing blow Capcom dealt by not localizing Monster Hunter XX or porting Monster Hunter World to the Switch really hit home personally for more than half of us. Though we’ve largely recovered from the news, the wounds still hurt.
Most Improved Game of the Year
ARMS
Runners Up:
Splatoon 2
Bomberman
This was a tough one because we really didn’t feel ARMS had much to improve upon from its initial launch. That said, the myriad of new content that has been added month after month aloung with a new mode in Party Crash, all for free, really made this decision a lot easier. Splatoon 2 and Bomberman each received a nod for doing the same, although not to quite the same effect as ARMS.
Worst Game of the Year
NBA Playgrounds
Runner Up:
Minecraft New 3DS Edition
If you listen to the show, it’s no surprise that these games made the list. Minecraft 3DS felt to us like an unnecessary port of a game. It’s already portable on Switch, it lacks 3D functionality, and nearly any other version is of better quality. NBA Playgrounds won this one though, by being broken at launch, having poor developer support for the Switch version, and ultimately taking up an immense amount of space via its bug-fixing patch.
Best New Ultra Beast in Pokémon UltraSun/UltraMoon
Poipole
Runners Up:
Stakataka
Ultra Necrozma
Only 3 of our 5 Infendo Radio hosts participated in this decision, since the other two have never seen an Ultra Beast. Lukas actually keeps a Stakataka on his team, and Mike just liked the name. But all three of us gave Poipole a spot on the list, in part because of how adorable the little critter is, and in part because, again, it’s a fun word to say.
Soundtrack of the Year
Super Mario Odyssey
Runners Up:
Sonic Forces
Breath of the Wild
The runners up should surprise no one. Memes have been made about Sonic Force’s Fist Bump battling it out with Super Mario Odyssey’s Jump Up Super Star. And Breath of the Wild’s soundtrack, while admittedly shallower, contains some really great orchestrated tracks. But in the end, the love was just stronger for team Mario, giving the portly plumber top spot for Best Soundtrack of the Year.
Best DLC of the Year
Breath of the Wild
Runner Up:
ARMS Support
We merged both DLC packs for Breath of the Wild together for this category, as you can’t actually buy them separately. The constant ARMS updates were a close second, but in the end Breath of the Wild won out. While we couldn’t all agree on whether The Master Trials or The Champion’s Ballad was more enjoyable, many of us had a clear favorite in this category.
Game of the Year 2017
Super Mario Odyssey
Runners Up:
Breath of the Wild
ARMS
This one was tough: Most of us love Breath of the Wild, and most of us love Odyssey. While many of us liked ARMS, none of us were willing to give it the top spot. After some heavy debating, the Game of the Year title went to Super Mario Odyssey, for both delivering on something nostalgic and providing something entirely new.