The 2017 Player 2 Fantasy Draft – Part 2
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 final group of writers and their picks. (for the first part click here:)
Round 1 – God of War
Round 2 – South Park: The Fractured Butt Whole
Round 3 – Tekken 7
Round 4 – Injustice 2
Wildcard – Sonic Mania
You’d think I’d learn my lessons from last year and pick games that had a high chance of actually being released this year. So because of this, one of my first choices was … God of War 4.
*bangs head on desk multiple times*
But hey, that’s me, I like to take the risks because the rewards are always higher! Release dates don’t scare me, hell no! I meet that demon head on and tell it the what for. The game Gods have already given me some nice release dates which work in my favour and boy oh boy did I pick some good ones. I’m confident in my fighting game choices of Injustice 2 and Tekken 7: Fated Retribution having followed both fairly closely. I’m not saying I have this in the bag, but I am saying that if my name wasn’t Adam Rorke in this game draft … I’d be a bit worried.
Round 1 – Mass Effect: Andromeda
Round 2 – Cuphead
Round 3 – Lady Layton
Round 4 – Frozen Synapse 2
Wildcard – Outlast 2
I feel pretty good about my picks. Having managed a nice randomised spot of second for the first round, I was surprised to see Sarah choose Zelda, which left me open to snag the ultimate prize (I’m predicting) of Mass Effect: Andromeda. From there, it became a matter of building a sturdy enough list that could withstand the heavy artillery of the predictable big releases getting smashed out of the running. I gambled on my second choice, hoping that Cuphead actually sees a release this year. My tactic here was the assumption that the game’s hand-drawn graphics would sway reviewers to be favourable with their scores. My third choice, Lady Layton came from a bit of Metacritic research, where the Layton games tend to do quite well. Perhaps due to their being covered mainly by enthusiast outlets?
I have to admit that my final two choices, Frozen Synapse 2 and Outlast 2, came about because they were simply the only decent-ish games remaining after everyone else had had their fill. Overall, I think I have a chance of hovering in the mid-80s with my picks. My only real opposition concern will be the Zelda scores, as they do tend to be quite high. I wish all my opponents the best of luck (but secretly I hope their scores all settle into the pond scum!). Now the waiting game begins…
Round 1 – Nioh
Round 2 – For Honor
Round 3 – Dawn of War 3
Round 4 – Destiny 2
Wildcard – Dark Souls 3: DLC 2
Full disclosure here people, I have never been a part of one of these ‘fantasy league’ type of games, whether it be sports, movies or game related, but when I saw the banter and loveable sledging that went along with the 2016 draft I figured I would give it a crack. The only problem was I have literally no idea what games were coming out in 2017, which became blatantly apparent when it was my turn to pick and I had to furiously google what games were coming out in 2017 and what most of them were.
One game, however, that was squarely marked on my 2017 radar was the next offering from Team Ninja. Known for making the incredibly difficult Ninja Gaiden series, Nioh is said to take a lot of inspiration from the ‘Soulsborne’ series of games and if any of you follow me on Twitter, you will know at least 7 tweets I send a day are about Dark souls. Dark Souls in feudal japan? Sure, count me in, also the fact it was the only game I actually KNEW about, helped cement it as pick #1 for my 2017 draft.
Vikings Vs Knights Vs Ninjas… What a premise for a game. Mix that in with large scale PVP and boy do you have my attention. For honor is going to be a polarising game for players I think, largely due to the combat system which when mastered looks amazing, but for the newcomers not willing to put in the time understanding it, It may be the reason they put it down to never return, either way, I am taking a punt on the good folk reviewing the game will put in the time to understand it, and thus score it well, this is after all all about the Metacritic scores right..
Dawn of War 3 is a very highly anticipated game for the Warhammer 40k crowd and the lovers of RTS games in general. The levels of hype and extremely positive previews that have been posted make me think that DoW3 will not only score well but be a fantastic game in its own right. As such it is my third pick for the 2017 draft.
Destiny 2. People love Destiny like really love it, personally, I think it’s alright I guess, There has been no official release announcement of Destiny 2, but it’s been a few years since Destiny was launched, so it’s probably due a sequel. For my draft’s sake, I hope so anyway. Besides, if it doesn’t get announced, there is always my Wild card to fall back on.
And what a wild card it is. Dark souls 3 DLC 2 is going to be amazing because Dark souls 3 was amazing and the first DLC was top quality content with a three stage final boss that would have broken nearly as many controllers as the Ornstein and Smough fight in Dark Souls 1. Dark souls is great everyone, you should all play dark souls.
I look forward to receiving your tweets and facebook messages of congratulations when I win this year’s Player 2.net.au Fantasy Draft.
Round 1 – Horizon: Zero Dawn
Round 2 – Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Round 3 – Scalebound
Round 4 – Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite
Wildcard – Agents of Mayhem
Well, I was feeling really good about my choices this year, right up until Microsoft screwed me with the cancellation of Scalebound. But with that being said I am still in this with a fighting chance. Every indication points to both Ghost Recon and Horizon being excellent releases and I am sure Capcom will go out of their way to make Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite great if only to make up for the botched SFV release.
Agents of Mayhem is perhaps the biggest risk here with it still being a fairly unknown title. I have faith however because it is from Volition, the creators of my favourite guilty pleasure franchise Saint’s Row. In fact, I am still not 100% sure this isn’t in some way connected to Saint’s Row. I am hoping for a funny, well put-together action game that will make critics and consumers smile.
So with that all in mind, I feel that while I might be the underdog at this stage, I am certainly still in the fight.
