It’s award season here at Twinfinite! Let’s look back at the best DLCs and expansion packs from 2017. Voted on by our editors, these add-ons stood out as the most significant and enjoyable from 2017. Let’s start our top vote-getting honorable mentions, runner-ups, and finally, of course, our overall winner!
Honorable Mention: XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
The Best DLC/Expansion of 2017
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen is a perfect example of DLC that goes above and beyond. It’s not just some dumb aesthetic change or some new missions; it actively adds entirely new parts to the game that, make it hard to go back to the vanilla, base game.
You’re given three crazy bosses that will lead to a lot of stress whenever they show up. You work with three new factions (each with their own unique class of soldiers) to find new ways to benefit your squad or take down the Advent. There are soldier bonds that can form, breathing even more role-playing and story-telling possibilities. There is even the ability to take photos of your squad in the ultimate #goals situation. How could this not be one of the best expansions to a game this year, then?
You can have fears now, weaknesses! There are new missions! There’s even a new enemy, The Lost, that make you feel like a total badass after the game kicks your butt repeatedly for 40 hours.
It’s hard not to consider War of the Chosen as one of the best DLC to release this year, is what I’m getting at here. Because it’s hardly even DLC. It’s practically an entire new game, with all new ways to play. Firaxis Games could have just given us some Shen’s Last Gift or Alien Hunters styled packs and been on their merry way. But no, they didn’t. They decided to go with changes that will surely become staples in the entries still to come.
Honorable Mention: The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind
The Best DLC/Expansion of 2017
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, is arguably one of the most beloved game in the storied franchise. What it currently lacks in visual flair and modern mechanics, it makes up for with scale, immersion, and open-ended adventure. For its eventual release into TESO, expectations were high. So properly adding Vvardenfell, the home of the Dunmer into TESO was a feat that needed to be done delicately to not let long time fans down. TESO’s Morrowind expansion came through and gets so much right.
It is remarkable how TESO is set up that whether you’re a new player, or a hardcore vet, you can jump right into Morrowind and contribute. Its campaign is meaty with very time-wasting filler content, it adds a fun new class, and was filled with lovely looking places to explore and entertaining side quests to complete. It’s probably cliche to say at this point, but playing through TESO: Morrowind genuinely felt like playing a mini-version of the excellent single player games.
TESO is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was when it first launched, thanks to the One Tamriel overhaul, and Morrowind is just another feather in its comeback cap.
Second Runner-Up: The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs
The Best DLC/Expansion of 2017
The Sims 4 was very lackluster when it released and was kind of a cash grab. Fans knew it. EA knew it. Everyone and their mother knew it. But by now and especially with Cats & Dogs, The Sims 4 is well on its way to being the best entry in the series.
I missed The Sims 3 a lot two years ago. Now, though, I can’t imagine going back. This is all thanks to really good expansions that Maxis and EA have been putting out. Cats & Dogs, luckily, continues this trend and doesn’t fall into the “utterly useless” territory (looking at you, Get Together). The pets you can have are surely nice and will help add a ton of role-playing, and all the extra stuff brought in with any expansion pack is very welcomed. However, the true meat of the expansions comes via the new career and world. Running a Vet Clinic is so far and beyond better than a restaurant. Not only that, though, it’s just nice to have options. By now, players are sick of either retail or restaurant, it was time for something fresh and new there.
But Brindleton Bay, though. That Brindleton. BB for life. Ride or die. It is the best world so far. Sure, it’s not as big as Windenburg, but it has every bit of life within it. It’s a great alternate to San Myshuno. You can have the nice calmness of the suburbs in the northwest, the laid-back beach vibes of the southeast, or the hectic calamity of the bay to the west. It’s got everything, and it’s hard to even start a family in another one of the worlds at this point. Cats & Dogs may not let you control your pets, but for role-playing fans, it’s one of the game’s “can’t miss” packs
First Runner-Up: Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds
The Best DLC/Expansion of 2017
We’d been happy enough with the base experience that we received this year in Horizon Zero Dawn. Its stunning visuals, engaging and tactical combat, and intriguing story kept us hooked for way over 40 hours as we explored its vast world and uncovered every secret tucked away in the nooks and crannies. But then Guerrilla Games offered up The Frozen Wilds – A one-way ticket to the chilly plains of The Cut in the Banunk tribe’s territory – and we’re sure glad they did.
The Frozen Wilds sees Aloy uncover the mysteries of new, hostile machines that have appeared up in The Cut and that are believed to be doing the bidding of some sort of spirit. The story’s focus on the Banuk allows the expansion to answer some of the questions players may have had during the main story about them, which itself helps to further flesh out the extensive lore.
While the story is sure to keep hardcore fans happy, The Frozen Wilds truly shines in the new quests you’ll be taking on, and more importantly, the new beasts you’ll be facing off against. The five new machines make for great adversaries out in the snowy plains and will punish those who haven’t got themselves reacquainted with the controls (if you’ve taken a break since it first released in February). Each one feels just as satisfying to dismantle with your arsenal of weapons and ammo types as those that featured in the base game, perhaps even more so in the case of the particularly predatory Scorchers.
It may not have the longest of main quest lines, but The Frozen Wilds makes up for it with an ample number of side quests featuring memorable characters that’ll have you forever remember your trip up north. The Frozen Wilds doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but when the core experience in Horizon Zero Dawn was so good, it doesn’t need to. It packs in 15 hours of challenging and enjoyable content that provides a perfect reason to rejoin Aloy on her adventure once more
Winner: Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood
The Best DLC/Expansion of 2017
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood has raised the bar on MMORPG story telling so high, that it might never be matched by anything other than future FFXIV expansions. Stormblood got so much right, but nothing topped it’s incredible story experience that not only blows other MMORPGs out of the water, even rivals mainline numbered Final Fantasy games with its twists, turns, and memorable characters.
And unlike Heavensward which made more minor gameplay changes and added jobs like Dark Knight and Astrologian which at least at launch, felt too similar to previous existing jobs (MCH was pretty unique); Stormblood shook things up dramatically. Each job received design changes that ranged from significant to dramatic. It made them more distinct from each other, and more in line with traditional interpretations of them. Feedback from Heavensward on issues such as housing, expert dungeon roulette, and more were heard, and addressed. And Red Mage and Samurai both came into the game fairly well balanced with clear visions on how they would fit into the current job pool without feeling redundant. There’s still more to do to make Final Fantasy XIV the best experience it can be, but Stormblood felt like a great stride forward in the correct direction.
Aside from just being one of the best RPG story experiences from 2017 (of which they were many), Stormblood was a well-planned and well-executed MMORPG expansion worthy of being declared the best of 2017.
Published: Dec 13, 2017 02:50 pm