10 Phenomenal 2017 Video Games You're Already Missing Out On

1. NieR: Automata

Grab it if you like: Metal Gear Rising, Devil May Cry, any hack n' slash game.

Like Nioh, NieR has been somewhat overshadowed by the likes of Horizon and Zelda, yet Platinum Games have created - almost invented - one of the coolest video games of all time. By combining third-person hack n' slash combat with side-scrolling Mega Man blaster sections and top-down bullet-hell arcade beats, all by keeping the same control scheme and intelligently shifting the camera around, it allows Automata to play like nothing else.

There's an open-world filled with Horizon-esque dilapidation to take in (you're playing as an android helping make Earth liveable again by wiping out a race of colonised aliens - just go with it), the real hooks come from this three-way mash of genres, the mysterious narrative that actually asks some profound questions as to human behaviour, and a 'New Game Plus' that fundamentally changes the entire story after three full playthroughs.

Nier is incredibly special, the result of a total disregard for the sort of "What sells?" Powerpoint presentations so many other games get completely bogged down by. Each game on this list deserves your time, but NieR is hopefully going to be regarded as a turning point for how developers think about implementing time-tested genres and rolling them together, opening the floodgates for what's to come next.

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Which games are you playing through that aren't getting their due? Let us know in the comments!