11 Most Surprisingly Awesome Video Games Of 2017 (So Far)
Nobody saw them coming.
2017 has been an incredible year for games so far, with the first quarter in particular serving up such a huge platter of hits that it was pretty much impossible to keep on top of even half of them.
Q2 meanwhile kept the momentum going with a fleet of terrific titles across all platforms, while especially expanding the libraries of the Nintendo Switch and PSVR, truly ensuring that there has been something for everyone.
These 11 games, however, are the ones that arrived by truly blindsiding gamers, either releasing with minimal-to-no hype, or simply failing to completely convince gamers due to them been burned by said franchise in the past.
Isn't it refreshing when a game becomes a must-buy totally out of nowhere? Far from the media hype cycle that makes the gaming world go around, these games arrived with either indifference or straight-up skepticism from many potential customers, but have proven post-release that they're fine diamonds in the rough that are well worth checking out...
11. Arms
Arms was first announced at the Nintendo Switch's big reveal in January, and the initial response was "mixed", if we're being polite.
Many simply felt that the game seemed to lack the depth to make it anything more than a novelty title you'd play for a few weeks and quickly forget about, especially with its focus on gimmicky motion controls.
This sentiment pretty much continued until the game actually came out in June, when it turned out that, in fact, Arms was a deceptively challenging fighting game with an unexpected amount of depth and a ludicrously addictive multiplayer component.
While it could've launched with more content, that does little diminish the game's hugely surprising appeal. It's not merely a daft fighter rushed out to appease the Switch's early adopters, but a nuanced game that mostly justifies its price tag.