18 Best Video Games Of 2017 (So Far)

Jun 3, 2017 Updated: June 3rd, 2017

1. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild

At some point it felt as though critics were trying to out-do each other as to just how spectacular the new Zelda is, but I'll go one further - it single-handedly reminds you why we play video games in the first place:

Escapism.

By designing an open-world with a perfect blend of exploration and a deliberate lack of tutorials or checkbox lists of what to accomplish, you literally - and in the most intuitive way possible - discover the in-world 'Legend of Zelda' as you're learning all the game's mechanics first-hand.

Fighting, climbing, acquire ingredients, shield-surfing, cooking and crafting better dishes - you can waste hundreds of hours just picking a direction and heading off to see what's over the next mountaintop. From tiny villages and homesteads to tucked-away crumbling ruins, hundreds of underground puzzle shrines and over the top, a wonderfully self-aware narrative about Link discovering his status as a world-saving warrior, Breath of the Wild feels like the culmination of 30 years of game design from some of the finest minds in the industry.

It really is that good. It really is one of the most majestic titles you'll ever spend time with, and it will take a seismic shift in this year's releases for anything to take Breath of the Wild's throne away at this point.