Game of the Year Awards 2017 - The Winners
Written Sunday, December 31, 2017 By XBA Staff
This is it. The big one. What the whole year has been leading up to. The much-coveted Game of the Year Awards! 2017 has been an absolute barnstormer of a year, delivering some truly remarkable gaming experiences, which means it's also been a tough one when it comes to making the selections. Chances are, you're going to be annoyed that some games you love didn't make the cut, but trust us, this whole thing was a close call.
Often when we write these intros, we make up some bollocks about a massive argument we had in the office about each game's inclusion, and while we always debate and have to ultimately agree on the picks for each category, this year, we really did have a bit of a row. One of us might have had a bit of a sulk that a certain game didn't get in when another one did, but when all is said and done, we're happy that we've made the right choices.
Do you agree? Did we get it right, or did we balls it up massively? Check out 2017 Game of the Year winners below and then sound off in the comments below! Also, Happy New Year!
And the Oscar goes to...
Runners-up:
Rhianna DeVries as Chloe Price in Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Despite having something of a thankless task filling in for Ashly Burch due to the SAG-AFTRA actor's strike, Rhianna DeVries stepped in and inhabited the role of Life is Strange: Before the Storm's Chloe Price brilliantly. DeVries almost had an impossible job stepping into Price’s shoes hot on the heels of the success of Life is Strange – it’s like replacing Bruce Willis in Die Hard and expecting people to be okay with it (well, not quite, but you know what we mean). It was a messy situation for everyone involved thanks to the strike, but DeVries absolutely nailed it, sliding into the role and making fans forget there had to be an actress switch. Genuinely, after about 20-minutes we’d completely forgotten that Ashly Burch was no longer voicing Chloe; DeVries did that wonderful a job.
Brian Bloom as BJ Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
BJ Blazkowicz isn’t exactly known as one of the most complex characters in gaming history. After all, he’s presented as a bit of a gun-toting meathead – bit harsh, but true. Since MachineGames has taken over the franchise though, Blazkowicz has been blessed with a bit of a personality and actor Brian Bloom has done a stellar job in making him a believable character, despite some of the outlandish directions that The New Colossus takes. Leaning in to the more vulnerable side of the man who people depend on to save the world, Bloom absolutely nails his performance as Blazkowicz in every sense. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus might seem like an immature, balls-to-the-wall gunfest from the outside, but beneath its exterior lies a deep and meaningful story, and Bloom plays a huge part in bringing that to life.
Winner:
Abubakar Salim as Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins
There's a reason that Bayek is quite possibly the best Assassin's Creed character since Ezio de Auditore. His legendary resolve, his single-minded quest for vengeance, his willingness to help anyone in need, his compassion; all of it is brought to life by Salim's superb vocal performance, perfectly pitched and delivered throughout. A strong performance can make a well-written character all the more powerful, and in that regard, Salim not only gave Bayek an edge, but also imbued the character with a genuine sense of heart. Wonderful stuff.
Because everyone loves a good yarn.
Runners-up:
Tacoma
Fullbright over the years – thanks to the narrative work on its smash hit, Gone Home – has almost become synonymous with storytelling in video games. Which is nuts when you think about it, considering the former 2K Marin trio (who worked on BioShock 2 DLC Minerva’s Den) had only worked on the aforementioned Gone Home before Tacoma. While Tacoma’s opening moments were rather glacial and went against what people perceived regarding the studio’s narrative and writing abilities, when the game gets going it really highlights the strengths of the studio. When it hits its stride, Tacoma's character-driven narrative is story-telling in video games at its very best. By the end of the relatively short adventure aboard the space station, Tacoma, you care about every crew member and care about their wellbeing, all of which makes you determined to solve the mysteries aboard the once populated floating piece of metal. It’s a bit of a doozy this one, and well worth its runners-up spot.
Prey
Messing with your perceptions at every turn, Prey kept you second-guessing throughout, right up until its unexpected ending. There were proper choices to make, that unforgettable and weird questionnaire at the beginning, and a variety of genuinely great story beats that all added up to making Prey much more than a conventional sci-fi FPS experience. Again, like the Dishonored series, Prey demonstrated how proficient Arkane is when it comes to crafting a compelling narrative.
Winner:
What Remains of Edith Finch
More a series of whimsical flights of fancy than a single story, Edith Finch's tall tales are nonetheless tied together by a single narrative thread. Every member of the cursed Finch family has a strange story to tell and they're all surprising, surreal and brilliantly executed. There's not one that won't stay with you forever and to single out onlyone would be doing a massive disservice to the game as a whole. The entire thing is a treat and one that will live on in the memory long after the final credits have rolled. It's quite simply glorious.
You're not always better off alone.
Runners-up:
Call of Duty: WWII
While the whole 'boots-on-the-ground' remit was flogged to death in the run up to release, it accurately describes Call of Duty: WWII's commitment to returning to the uber-franchise's roots. Getting back to something more realistic, grounded and relatable, WWII dispensed with the near-future leanings of previous Call of Duty games and put the series back on track with a robust multiplayer offering, adding the HQ social space, the team-based War mode and tight, always enjoyable (and sometimes frustrating when things aren't going your way) matches. Call of Duty: WWII brought things back to down to earth with a bang. In a good way, obviously.
Halo Wars 2
We’ll be honest, we didn’t really expect much of Halo Wars 2’s multiplayer when it dropped earlier this year. We’re Halo Wars fans, yes, but we’re in it for the single-player. That’s it. Well, that was until we tried it out and sure, the standard fare was great, and was all in working order, but it was the new cards-based multiplayer mode, Blitz, that truly captured our attention. It’s a simple concept that pits two teams against each other and asks one thing of you: destroy the other team. Players start with a set amount of units and can add to their army by using cards with currency they can pick up around the map. It’s fast-paced, frenetic and massively tactical, and is definitely worthy of its runners up place this year.
Winner:
Fortnite: Battle Royale
2017 was the year of the battle royale… well, on PC it was. On console, well, not so much. That was until Epic Games saw an opportunity, a gap in the market, and in chasing that battle royale dream, utterly smashed it, by releasing one hell of a battle royale experience on consoles. The first of its kind (on consoles… if you don’t count The Culling on Xbox), Fortnite: Battle Royale also effectively pipped PUBG to the finish line on console, and gave it away for free no less. It’s a mode that pretty much came out of nowhere and delighted players with its easy to pick up and play gameplay, its base building mechanics and its vibrant art-style. Fortnite’s battle royale mode in 2017 was easily our favourite multiplayer experience, and sure, some might see it as a PUBG rip-off, but we don’t. There are similarities, of course. Some a little too close for comfort, but PUBG Corp. don’t own the rights to a concept that’s been in the public limelight since the 1999 Battle Royale novel, which spawned a film in 2000, and was clearly an inspiration for The Hunger Games. Basically, what we’re saying is: Fornite: Battle Royale is bloody great. It’s so much fun, it’s well made, it’s great, and no, it’s not a rip-off.
Ooh, pretty...
Runners-up:
Assassin’s Creed Origins
That Assassin's Creed Origins is Ubisoft's biggest AC game yet, with a land mass far outstripping every other entry in the series, you might think that the whole thing could have been spread too thin. Surprisingly, Ubi managed to create a gorgeous-looking game without compromise. Origins' rendition of Ancient Egypt is genuinely stunning, every inch of its open world an absolute treat for the eyes. Play it on a 4K console, and it's even better. Just climb one of the pyramids in Giza and then gaze slack-jawed into the distance at the beautiful landscape laid out before you. That's all your to mess around in that is, and it's all dead pretty too.
Star Wars Battlefront II
While Star Wars Battlefront II might not have necessarily been to everyone's tastes, there's no denying that DICE did a bang-up job in once again bringing a galaxy far, far away to life with aplomb. Every detail is present and correct, and boy does it look sensational. Granted, some of the hero characters look a little 'off', but everything else is on point, from the streets of Theed to the forests of Takodana and even the salt flats of the newly-added The Last Jedi Crait map; the whole thing looks out of this world. Oh, and the starry space battling Galactic Assault bits look great too. Obviously.
Winner:
Cuphead
There are few games in 2017 on Xbox that are as iconic, as creative or as alluring as Studio MDHR’s Cuphead, and that’s why for us, the game was undoubtedly the best-looking game of the year. Every boss, every level, every enemy character is meticulously hand-crafted and imaginative as the next. Cuphead doesn’t deal in derivatives. It doesn’t half ass anything. With every pixel drawn, with every level rendered, you can see and feel the love and commitment that Studio MDHR has poured into it. It’s a modern day visual masterpiece, for sure.
The year's most delectable aural treats.
Runners-up:
Prey
From the very moment you climb into your private chopper for your first day with the TranStar Corporation, and that awesome synth tune kicks in as you take to the skies and drink in the sci-fi scenery, you know you're in for a pleasant aural journey. Prey's soundtrack is sci-fi synth at its best, ramping up at the right moments and generally being rather good throughout. It's a video game soundtrack you wouldn't mind listening to when you're not playing the game.
Destiny 2
The first Destiny had a stellar score that sent shivers down your spine, and in that department, Destiny 2 is no different. From its epic opening theme to the soaring orchestral harmonies that complement every mission or brief visit to The Tower, Bungie's sequel hit all of the right notes with its music, delivering memorable cues that give the whole thing a real sense of grandeur. Comprising brassy horns, choral singing and plenty of pomp, Destiny 2's soundtrack is superlative.
Winner:
Cuphead
Cuphead is one hell of a good-looking game. We’ve established that. Heck, we gave it our ‘Best Visuals’ award this year. What we sometimes fail to highlight is how good the game’s soundtrack really is too, and that’s despite everything going against it. Bear with us for a moment here. Cuphead is made up of a whole load of fairly short levels, levels you can be replaying again and again in a really short time. If the soundtrack isn’t perfect - utterly perfect - there’s a chance that the accompanying music can be offputting. Heck, it could potentially be annoying, but Kristofer Maddigan’s excellent soundtrack does none of that. If anything, it keeps you sane. Its catchy beats keep you focused. It complements every aspect of Studio MDHR’s boss rush game perfectly, and that’s no easy feat!
It's not all McDonald's, y'know.
Runners-up:
For Honor
It proved somewhat divisive upon release (and still is), but you can't deny that For Honor at least attempted something cool and different. And while aspects of it might not have worked as intended, there's the kernel of something truly great here, from its rock, paper, scissors combat to gritty medieval battlegrounds, For Honor has the potential to be big. And with dedicated servers on the cards, there's every chance that there's a bright future ahead for Ubi's down and dirty multiplayer hack and slasher. Oof!
Little Nightmares
Spine-tingling, dark and surreal, Little Nightmares will reignite your childhood fears, like the monster under your bed or the bogey man in your cupboard. In her little yellow hooded mackintosh, Six is small and vulnerable, her bare feet slapping on the floor as she scampers away from danger; from grasping long arms and grotesque, nightmarish oddities. Little Nightmares is an entirely unique puzzle platformer and one that'll stay with you forever, to boot. Let's hope this is the start of more to come.
Winner:
Cuphead
If we’re being completely honest – and blunt – the Xbox One struggled this year with new IPs. From the platform holder, the selection was lacking to say the least. One new franchise saved Microsoft from obscurity this year. One game alone. That game was the wonderful Cuphead, a game that tested the best of us, separated the good from the great and one that overloaded our senses to create one hell of an experience. That game was Cuphead. Cuphead, the saviour of Microsoft’s first party offering. We’re probably not doing Cuphead the justice it deserves here, let us be frank: even in a good year, with Microsoft dropping a ton of new IPs out of every orifice, Cuphead would still be one of its best. It’s bloody delightful and should be experienced by all.
Because there's more to games than triple-A.
Runners-up:
RiME
“Oh look! It's like ICO!” That's pretty much what everyone thought when they first saw RiME, right? And to an extent, they were dead on. RiME is a similarly magical experience, taking you from the shores of its mysterious island and deep into its inner sanctum where there's all manner of ancient mechanisms and lost artifacts to discover. It's contemplative, it's vibrant, it's achingly beautiful with a world you want to explore and get lost in. Everything about RiME is enticing, and that sombre ending will challenge even the most stoic of tear ducts. Blub.
Cuphead
In any other year Cuphead would have won this category, hands down. Its art-style, its soundtrack, its addictive gameplay, Cuphead is and was an instant Xbox classic. Despite its stellar effort, though, and its obvious attention to detail and style, it just wasn’t quite enough to grab the main prize. It’s still an excellent game, of course. But this year’s winner was a doozy.
Winner:
What Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch is one of those games that comes around every once in a generation, a game chock full of innovative ideas, a beautiful narrative and one that is stunningly woven together to become a truly memorable experience. What Remains of Edith Finch is of those games that came out of nowhere, one that caught everybody off-guard and one that captivated gamers from beginning to end without having to skip a beat. Evocative, emotional, mysterious, it has all the makings of a classic and will certainly be remembered as such. In short, it utterly deserves Best Indie Game this year. Undoubtedly.
Mmm... Fresh.
Runner-up:
Prey's GLOO Cannon
At first glance, Prey's GLOO Cannon doesn't seem all that special. You can use it to temporarily stick your alien foes to the floor before mashing them up or you can fire it square in their faces to keep them at bay. Experiment a little more, however, and the GLOO Cannon becomes something completely indispensable. Versatility is the name of the game, enabling you to repair burst gas pipes, build ramps to higher ground or form bridges to otherwise inaccessible areas. The GLOO Cannon is properly cool. Every game should have one and I want a real one.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole's Turn-Based Grid System
South Park: The Stick of Truth was such a wonderful game when it released back in 2014, but with the sequel, The Fractured But Whole, Ubisoft San Francisco was keen to freshen up the gameplay and make it more engaging – which is no easy feat when you consider that turn-based JRPGs haven’t really found a solution to that in years. It’s a tricky one in truth: keeping it turn-based and freshening it up. It’s almost an oxymoron. It’s safe to say that the San Fran studio got there in the end though and its new turn-based grid system added multiple dimensions to its combat, something we thought wouldn’t be possible in the game’s current form. Sure, other developers have experimented with similar systems over the years, but Ubisoft San Francisco knocked it out the park with The Fractured But Whole, crafting a combat system that made you use your nous. It just works and works really well!
Winner:
Prey's Mimics
Now here's a weird one, yet something that formed almost the entire backbone of the constant feeling of tension throughout Prey. Extra-terrestrial big bads the Typhon could adopt many forms, but none is more terrifying than the humble little Mimic. You can kill a Mimic with one well-aimed swing of your wrench, but that doesn't stop it from being a terrifying, deceitful little bastard. Mimics can be anywhere, masquerading as anything. An innocent coffee mug? Maybe. Or maybe not! A Mimic is just waiting to jump out of nowhere and shit you up at any given moment with a horrible otherworldly shriek. The sods.
Unexpected pleasures.
Runners-up:
Assassin’s Creed Origins
Once upon a time, a truly great Assassin's Creed game wasn't that big a surprise. But after a few patchy installments in the series and an over-reliance on the same old mechanics for almost a decade, Origins effectively bulldozed Assassin's Creed and rebuilt the entire thing, transforming it into a different beast. A more dynamic and immense open-world with all the trappings of an RPG, Assassin's Creed Origins proved deep, eminently playable and above all, fresh. The new combat system proved to be the icing on the cake. What a game, and what a lovely surprise.
Sonic Mania
After years of striving to make Sonic work as a blisteringly fast 3D action game, SEGA (surprise!) finally saw sense and put its mascot back where he belongs. Simultaneously a loving homage to the blue hedgehog's outings on Mega Drive/Genesis and a glorious remix stuffed with ideas and hat-tips to Sonic's history (that Mean Bean Machine bit!), Sonic Mania is all things to all Sonic fans. New zones mash up classics that couldn't make the cut (Studiopolis is like Carnival, Casino, Starlight and Springyard, all in one), while existing ones are reimagined, making them feel new again. The soundtrack tops the whole thing off. Sonic Mania is fantastic.
Winner:
Resident Evil VII: biohazard
Arguably, the Resident Evil series hit a creative nadir with the release of Resident Evil 6, leaving little place for the franchise to go. Really, the only choice was to go back to its roots, and Resident Evil VII did it with aplomb. Retaining all of the iconography and expectations that come with a Resident Evil game, VII also played with the series' conventions, making for an unexpectedly tense and foreboding affair. Contending with the Baker family, Resident Evil VII is a first-person nightmare, a rollercoaster ghost train ride that surprises at every turn. Best of all, it put Resident Evil back on track.
They're not bad games. They just fell short.
Runners-up:
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Look, cards on the table, we enjoyed Mass Effect: Andromeda. Rather a lot, actually. But its failure to stand up to the original trilogy and the weight of expectation heaped upon the game could only lead to one thing, ultimately. Disappointment. Mass Effect: Andromeda wasn't disappointing because it was a bad game, but because it simply wasn't a great one. It left things on a cliffhanger that we now know will remain unresolved, its story wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous games' narratives, it was lacking in choice, consequence and real impact, Ryder wasn't as interesting a protagonist as Shepard and the whole experience lacked momentum. Technical teething problems didn't help and for die-hard Mass Effect fans, Andromeda left a bad taste in the mouth and even put the franchise on ice. Shame.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 set a high bar for Infinite, with a massive roster of characters and a flashy comic book style that leapt off the screen. By comparison, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite seemed like a dour, pale imitation, dropping the 3v3 action to 2v2 and adding Infinity Stones to the mix. Factor in the lack of a cohesive art style, the comparative skeleton roster of characters and some odd input designs (why can I block a super mid-wind-up-animation!?) and MvC: Infinite doesn't look good. Sure, the addition of a story was nice and all, as was the actual mashing together of Marvel and Capcom properties, but overall, when Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is clearly the better game, it's hard to see why Infinite even exists. It has its own merits, but Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite failed to live up to the series' high watermark. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Winner:
Star Wars Battlefront II
Perhaps the biggest disappointment about Star Wars Battlefront II is that at its core, it's a brilliantly robust multiplayer shooter. The new campaign mode was good fun and the wealth of content - now spanning the entirety of the Star Wars saga - addressed the issues we had with the previous game. At face value, Star Wars Battlefront II is a worthwhile sequel. Dig a little deeper, however, and you'll discover a completely ham-fisted progression system that tarnishes the entire multiplayer experience. Even with the fixes DICE has implemented since launch, Battlefront II's Star Cards and Loot Crates still screw with the game's balance, making for consistently infuriating online encounters. The most frustrating thing is that Star Wars Battlefront II could have so very nearly been unreservedly great, but clearly, it's given in to the Dark Side.
These are the studios that made 2017 a great year.
Runners-up:
Studio MDHR
Hype in the games industry can be a dangerous thing and can potentially ruin video games and studios before they’ve even launched. A perfect example of hype is Cuphead: a game that everyone had been waiting for and craving for years ever since its announcement. And yes, we mean years. It was first announced back in 2014 and as soon as we saw it, we fell in love with its art style and soundtrack. Cuphead is one of the exceptions to the rule though, the small indie studio, owned by Chad and Jared Moldenhauer, managed to meet expectations, delivering one of the most unique and addictive experiences in video games that we’ve seen in some time. That art-style, the humour, the soundtrack, the responsive gameplay, the creativity in the bosses and the game as a whole, it’s hard to believe that only a handful or so of people contributed to something so wonderful.
Epic Games
Epic Games is a studio with an incredible and rich history; one of the best in video games, having created such ‘epic’ franchises as Unreal Tournament, Gears of War and Jazz Jackrabbit. There’s no disputing its legacy, including the work it has put in for the rest of the industry with the Unreal Engine. They’re one of the world’s biggest studios. Their software output – like Valve – has been lacking in recent years though. After the Tencent deal in 2012, Cliff Bleszinski went indie, Rod Fergusson went to the Coalition (eventually) and Mike Capps retired, and the good games kind of dried up. That was until 2017, when Epic released Fortnite and Paragon before supporting them to the Nth degree. They took Fornite, a game where support was wavering even before it shipped, and reinvigorated it somehow. Then they added a battle royale mode to it and made it one of the year’s biggest games. Updates, constant support, new content, tweaks, Fortnite has had the lot and to think, the BR mode is free too! It’s a little bit mind-blowing. Congrats Epic, you done good!
Winner:
Arkane Studios
Not content with releasing one great game this year, Arkane Studios' two teams both knocked it out of the park. Successfully rebooting Prey was one thing, but to follow up Dishonored 2 with standalone spin-off Death of the Outsider, injecting fresh ideas into the series with Billie Lurk at its centre, was a masterstroke. Prey's System Shock influences might have upset some, but there's no question that Arkane created a fantastic game with its own unique universe. And more Dishonored can never be considered a bad thing. As such, Arkane had a hell of a year.
Thanks for publishing all the lovely games!
Runners-up:
Ubisoft
This year’s ‘Best Publisher’ category ended up being a case of the “Who Actually Didn’t Screw The Pooch” award. So many publishers and their studios made catastrophic errors: whether you mean EA with the Star Wars Battlefront II stuff, Warner with the Shadow of War DLC furore, etc. While all this was going on, Ubisoft just ticked along really nicely. They had a consistent range of decent titles, whether you’re talking about For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Ghost Recon Wildlands or the brilliant Assassin’s Creed Origins, the publisher had a strong year. On top of that, the support they showed The Division and Rainbow Six Siege was admirable. Plus, they gave us everything we ever wanted at E3 in the form of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Bonza!
Bandai Namco
Bandai Namco, or Namco Bandai as they were once known, or Namdai Banco as they could be known in the future, had a bloody good year. They really did. Of all the publishers in the games industry, they were one of the smaller publishers who spent 2017 championing new IPs alongside all of the usual Naruto and Dragon Ball stuff, and anyone who knows us, knows we love to champion those who champion new IPs. Champions! But yes, aside from the colossus known as Project CARS 2, two lesser known new IPs landed from Namco this year: Get Even and Little Nightmares, both of which had some really cool ideas. The latter has been really well supported too, and could quite easily grow into a new franchise for the Japanese publisher.
Winner:
Bethesda
Bethesda had a bloody good 2017. As far as catalogues go, it was one of their best years. Sure, there was no big super system seller like Elder Scrolls or Fallout, but in terms of quality, they had an outstanding year. It’s worth noting that they’re all single-player experiences too! They kicked off the summer in style with the brilliant Prey, before storming into September with the great Dishonored: Death of the Outsider standalone spin-off. They then ended the year with The Evil Within 2 if you like that sort of thing (we didn’t all that much) and the ever impressive Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Oof! It was a great year for Bethesda, and long may it continue!
The big kahuna.
Runners-up:
Prey
This year's Prey might not have been the Prey game that everyone had hoped for, but Arkane went ahead and produced a kick-ass sci-fi experience anyway. Smart, slick and stylish, Prey is brimming with ideas and invention, as well as a hefty dollop of narrative intrigue, and some cool weaponry and neat abilities that enable you to play the game your way. Prey engenders a sense of experimentation and play within its space station sandbox, with deceptive enemies, a branching storyline and even a smattering of impactful decisions. It's really, really good.
What Remains of Edith Finch
Edith Finch? Again?! Yes. Again. Giant Sparrow's esoteric adventure is just that good. Brimming with playful invention and an array of bizarre storybook fairytales, What Remains of Edith Finch is a singular, dreamlike experience that's utterly remarkable. We've already harped on about how great Edith Finch is, but really, nothing we can write here will ever really do it justice. You need to play it yourself and understand why its earned such gushing plaudits. What Remains of Edith Finch deserves all of the praise and more.
Winner:
Assassin’s Creed Origins
If you'd have told us a few years ago that Assassin's Creed would be in the running for Game of the Year, we'd have laughed in your face. Following the messy Assassin's Creed Unity and a continual retreading of the series' formula with each iteration, it was starting to feel like Ubisoft's flagship franchise might be losing its way. And when last year, the decision was made to put the series on hiatus, things weren't looking too good for fans of the hooded, hidden blade set. Then Assassin's Creed Origins came along and breathed new life into the shadowy murderising series, with new hero and Assassin's Order co-founder Bayek a likeable lead and its massive open-world Ancient Egypt an exciting, vibrant and varied playground; a literal sandbox, if you like. Assassin's Creed Origins is sensational stuff and a more than worthy 2017 Game of the Year winner, indeed.
Todellakin. Zelda ja Xenoblade 2 olleet vuoden kovimmat pelit omalla kohdalla.
