The most anticipated games of 2017 !!

Even while you appreciate the here and now with the best games of 2016, it's hard not to get excited at everything on the horizon. Be they newly announced or recently delayed, we've already been made aware of plenty of 2017's biggest games, from enticing sequels to intriguing new ideas. Below are some of our most anticipated games in 2017, as we contemplate how we're going to afford buying so many impressive titles.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Platform(s): Wii U, Nintendo NX
Genre: Action RPG
When The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild arrives in 2017, the Zelda series will be over 30 years old. This game, the series' debut not just on the beleaguered Nintendo Wii U but the brand new NX, is actually very close in spirit to the NES original from all those decades ago. Emphasizing a wide open world that's primarily monster-infested wilderness rather than a populated landscape prone to cutscenes, Breath of the Wild is a dramatic shift from the handholding adventures Nintendo has traded in during the 21st century. We couldn't be more excited.

Persona 5

Platform(s): PS4, PS3
Genre: RPG
After nearly a decade of development and a leap from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4, the Persona 5 release date finally arrives in February 2017. While the role-playing game still follows high school students with supernatural powers in a highly stylized world, Persona 5 does represent a dramatic shift in tone for the series. Where Persona 3 and Persona 4 focused on fairly typical teens in unusual circumstances - secret paramilitary ghost fighters in the former, a Japanese riff on Scooby Doo mystery solving in the latter - Persona 5 follows a group of flamboyant young cat burglars. Think Lupin the Third by way of Degrassi.

God of War 

Platform(s): PS4
Genre: Beat-'em-up
Having torn the Greek pantheon asunder, Kratos (now sporting a scruffy beard) has set his sights on a new mythology to conquer: Norse. The fourth main entry in the legendarily brutal PlayStation series drops the numbering and looks like it'll force Kratos to control his endless rage, as he acts as the father figure for a young, as-yet-unnamed boy with latent lightning powers. Don't worry, you'll still slay plenty of fantastical creatures along the way - but expect a lot more character development and quieter moments in between all the carnage.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard 

Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Horror
After Resident Evil 6 misfired by going all-in on mediocre action, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard wisely brings everything back to what first defined the series: survival horror. On top of RE7 recapturing the sense of dread and suspense from the earlier games, it's clear that P.T. was also a huge inspiration: you now explore the world from first-person, and the environments are suitably dark and dingy. The RE7 demos we've played have already terrified us (in a good way), so we're excited to see what kind of chilling scares and first-person combat await in the full game.

Mass Effect: Andromeda 

Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Action RPG
Commander Shepard may have taken out the Reapers and saved the day, but there’s plenty more adventure yet to be had in the Mass Effect universe. BioWare's been keeping details for Mass Effect: Andromeda mostly under wraps, although the footage that has been revealed certainly looks slick. Here’s what we do know, though. It appears the story will take us on a journey to try to find a new home for humanity. Many of the more familiar concepts from the original trilogy - conversations, romances, and shooting things - are back in action. The game was pushed back from its expected 2016 release, so we're even more ready for the new year to just get here already.

For Honor 

Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Beat-'em-up
If melee combat is at all your thing, For Honor should be your most anticipated game of 2017. This 4v4 multiplayer brawler pits Knights, Samurai, and Vikings against one another in thrilling duels across chaotic battlefields. From what we've seen of it so far, For Honor's combat is absolutely superb: every forceful hit or last-second block has a palpable weight to it, and the motion-captured animations are impressively fluid and graceful (as well as being unique to each of the four distinct roles in each faction). This is everything that the ho-hum Deadliest Warrior game should've been.

Horizon Zero Dawn 

Platform(s): PS4
Genre: Action RPG
Horizon Zero Dawn promises to take all the elements you love in an open-world RPG and turn them up to 11. Unique universe? Check. Epic story about fate, destiny, and identity? Check. Cool weapons and combat options? Check. Possessed robotic dinosaurs rampaging around attacking people? Okay, maybe that’s not a standard feature, but it’s here and we’re really excited.

Prey

Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC
Genre: Shooter
Don't worry if you missed the 2006 FPS Prey - this reimagined Prey by the same name chucks everything from its predecessor out the window. Developed by Arkane Studios, the team behind the Dishonored games, this sci-fi shooter has you confined on a space station that's been overrun by shape-shifting, shadow-like aliens. Protagonist Morgan Yu will have to fight back against these invaders in a struggle to survive, even as his sanity seems to deteriorate bit by bit.