The 2017 Player 2 Fantasy Draft – Part 1
The Player 2 Fantasy draft is back in 2017 and it is bigger than ever. This year we have 10 writers competing for the highly coveted winner’s trophy (which may not actually exist) so we have had to tweak the rules a little. Here are the rules
- This year we had four rounds of picks along with a wild card.
- The writer’s names were pulled out of a hat for each round so their position was completely random.
- For each round, the writers had to pick one game, once that game was picked no one else could pick it.
- The winner is the person with the highest total Metacritic score at the end of the year.
- The writers also picked a wildcard which can be substituted for a lower scoring game or a game that was canceled/delayed.
So with the rules out of the way lets move on to the first six writers and their picks.
Round 1 – Red Dead Redemption 2
Round 2 – Prey
Round 3 – Draganronpa 3
Round 4 – Unannounced 3D Mario Switch game
Wildcard – Call of Duty 2017
No bones about it, I was a complete dark horse for the 2016 draft. My picks were all over the place, I did absolutely no research and each round was left reeling after titles I had my eye on were taken, leaving me scrambling. This year, I went in with a gameplan and I think my picks reflect that. Apart from the sneaky theft of Persona 5 by Paul James (who later admitted he took it more to prevent me having it than anything else – a move I used on him last year with Final Fantasy XV), I was able to secure what I think is a pretty decent line up, barring any delays.
Red Dead Redemption 2 can’t possibly disappoint, not with the track record of Rockstar. That said, it is easily my most likely candidate for a delay and hence my riskiest pick.
Arkane has secured themselves a reputation for quality following the Dishonored series and I chose Prey banking on that. With 2016 being a stellar year for FPS, Prey has to do a lot to make itself stand out and I’m hoping Arkane can make that happen.
Danganronpa V3 is my most niche choice but also one that has a strong following. I expect reviews to be fairly positive with very few outlets bothering to review it if they aren’t already interested.
Mario Switch hadn’t been confirmed during the draft pick, but a quick look at Metacritic scores for the series over the past few years shows every main series entry scoring 90+, so I feel this one is a safe bet.
As for COD 2017 as my Wildcard, it’s the most conservative choice I could have made. It will come out, it should score in the realm of 80, that’s pretty much all there is to it.
Compared to last year, I feel my picks are a lot stronger. That said, the Player2 2016 Draft came down to the wire (December 12th to be exact) so I’m not going to start gloating just yet. In the meantime, I’ll set up a shrine to the Gaming Gods and pray for multiple delays and cancellations for all other participants.
Round 1 – Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Round 2 – Divinity: Original Sin 2
Round 3 – Shenmue III
Round 4 – Torment: Tides of Numenera
Wildcard – Battletech
The best part of the draft this year was watching the cursory responses when people chose their games.
Equally as delicious was that I was able to pick the very first game for the draft, and there was no debate that Zelda Breath of the Wild was going to be it. While I have been burned by Nintendo properties before (THANKS A LOT, STAR FOX!), my confidence in the new Zelda title was not just due to its launch on new hardware but that it is the last song of Nintendo’s Wii U.
I steered the hell away from Nintendo IP for the rest of my picks but wanted to embrace the return of strategy and isometric RPGs have occurred over the last 12-24 months. I am hoping that lightning will strike twice for Divinity Original Sin 2, and have chosen to be a hopeful optimist for the thematic successor to another successful RPG; Torment: Tides of Numenera. I am curious whether Papyrus fonts will save Shenmue III, sailing on the swift current of nostalgia.
My Wildcard was indeed wild. I blame Battletech on hanging around Ken Lee too often, and his fascination with mech games. If this tanks, I’m blaming him.
…oh Gawd that pun was not intentional.
Round 1 – Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy
Round 2 – Gravity Rush 2
Round 3 – Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Round 4 – Uncharted: Lost Legacy
Wildcard – Hand of Fate 2
This is my first year doing the video game draft, and to be honest, I feel pretty good about it. Some of my games are gambles (Ni No Kuni, for example, without the backing of Studio Ghibli this year, might cost me some points) but mostly I feel confident. The few I’m really banking on are the Crash Bandicoot reboot and the upcoming Uncharted DLC. Crash is going to (hopefully) be a real nostalgia kick for gamers of my generation. Plus hopefully, it’s actually good too, which will help those points. And Uncharted… well, do I really need to say anything about Uncharted? That game is great. Or it better be! And if they screw me, they better be prepared to FEEL THE WRATH OF A THOUSAND SUNS. Or a thousand whinging ratbags. Whichever.
Round 1 – Crackdown 3
Round 2 – From Software’s new IP
Round 3 – Sea of Thieves
Round 4 – ThatGameCompany’s new game
Wildcard – Assassin’s Creed 2017
Last year’s draft was going ok for me until the whole No Man’s Sky debacle. Crackdown 3 getting pushed to this year also cost me a shot at the win, but there’ll be no wallowing in what might’ve been. Instead, I look forward to this year’s draft and present you with the games that will, I am confident to say, lead me to victory.
Crackdown 3 makes a return to my list after being pushed from 2016 to 2017. I’m hoping that Microsoft doesn’t push it out again – MS games don’t tend to survive being delayed too many times – because it’s high time we start collecting orbs again. Also on my list are a bunch of untitled games that have, in one way or another, seen the light somehow. From Software confirmed they were working on a brand new IP to be released in 2017 which has me excited for whatever it may be. The same goes for ThatGameCompany’s new game which has been teased with a few images, but nothing more. Sea of Thieves makes my list – I’m hopeful it lands this year, but it ‘could’ find itself moved to 2018 thanks to Rare’s ambitious nature. Lastly, this year also see’s the return of Assassin’s Creed, and I reckon the year off may have been just what the series needs to revitalise it some. Now all that’s left is to sit back and watch those scores roll in, baby.
Round 1 – Resident Evil VII
Round 2 – Yakuza 0
Round 3 – Nier: Automata
Round 4 – Thimbleweed Park
Wildcard – Night in the woods
I’d like to say that careful research and meticulous preparation went into my choices for Player2.net.au’s 2017 video game draft but I’m afraid it would be stretching the truth to breaking point. Basically, I made a list of all the games I could remember that had a 2017 release date, looked up a few more that I’d forgotten about, and then picked the ones I thought had the best chance of good reviews that some other jerk hadn’t already snatched out from under my nose (not that I’m bitter about losing the new Uncharted game, JEN, or Red Dead 2, STEPHEN).
I’m very interested to see how my indie picks go compared to the AAA titles I’ve listed, especially since I’ve been looking forward to the release of both for quite some time now. Now that I think about it, while I’m not the only one to pick an indie title, I may be the only one to have picked multiple indie titles, so seeing how that pays off for me will be educational if nothing else.
Basically, I’m hoping for a solidly average result – I think some of my picks might be a bit too niche for the really glowing reviews necessary for a high Metacritic score, but I’m hoping they’re also niche enough that the reviews they do get will be mostly positive ones from confirmed fans of the respective series and/or genres.
Round 1 – Persona 5
Round 2 – NBA 2k18
Round 3 – Halo Wars 2
Round 4 – Gran Turismo Sport
Wild Card – Yooka-Laylee
So I was on the attack early in the 2017 Draft picking Persona 5. I knew Stephen would have it in the gun, but I’m also well aware of the hype that surrounds the game – so with my first pick I made sure to snap it up. As I saw the big AAA blockbusters disappear though, I was relieved to see Halo Wars 2 slip through the cracks and I, with delight, picked it up. I’m supremely confident that it will do very well critically when it releases next year. NBA 2K18’s success is all but guaranteed so that became a very easy pick. I was shattered when Stephen got one back on me when he snapped up the Switch Mario game, but I’ll take Gran Turismo Sport, surely it won’t be delayed again! Meanwhile, my selection of Yooka-Laylee as a reserve felt like a stroke of genius – I feel the game will be in front of the right reviewers and consequently will receive some nostalgia perks when it releases in April. There’s a couple of players I’m concerned about this year but overall I’m pretty happy with my draft and feel I’ve given myself a good shot at winning this thing. Hopefully, delays don’t thwart me again!
Come back tomorrow for the remainder of the 2017 Player 2 Fantasy Draft
