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[Super Stardust]

1. Final Fantasy XV - amazing gameplay, huge world to explore and some of the most memorable party members we'll ever have in a video game.

2. Bravely Second

3. Fire Emblem Fates

 

[marvelharvey]

1. Doom ; Flipped the genre on its head by encouraging players into close combat, instead of hiding behind walls, waiting for the health to recharge.
2. Xcom 2 ; There was a 99% chance of this being no.1, but it missed.
3. Thumper ; Bit Trip Runner in 3D.
4. Shadow Tactics ; OK, you distract that one guard with idle chitchat while you throw a ninja-star at the other.
5. Battlefield 1 ; Nowhere near as horrifying as Dan Carlin's 'Hardcore History Blueprint for Armageddon'
6. Automobilista ; The best PC sim released in 2016 (the only PC sim released in 2016)
7. Orwell ; Theresa May Simulator. She can fuck right off.
8. House Of The Dying Sun ; Oh, so THIS is VR!
9. Earth Defense Force 4.1 ; Just like every other EDF, but this time on PC!
10. Rez Infinite ; OK, this one's a bit of a cheat. I only played Stage 1, then put down my friend's PSVR and said "I'm saving the rest of the experience until a PC release"

Disappointments of the year:

Civ 6 ; It'll get good by 2018 though
Street Fighter 5 ; It'll get good if they add Arcade Mode. I preorder months before release and have only played 4 hours since release

 

[Spikematic]

Man, this was a really awesome year for gaming. I'm still working on my list and have yet to start a couple of the heavy contenders (DOOM, FF15, TLG, Inside...).

So far it looks like Uncharted 4 has got this, followed by DOOM and Overwatch. I'm pretty surprised and pleased to see Titanfall 2 doing so well. All FPS fans who haven't tried it yet really need to check it out. Both the campaign and multiplayer are just way too much fun. And there's no shitty DLC/season pass stuff either, all future maps will be free! Only custom skins etc cost real money.

 

[Won]

Doing this list is always interesting, because it reminds how I always slowly move away a bit more from this hobby with every year. Looking through to the list to remind me what I actually played, I think I dropped more games after 1-2 hours than I actually finished. Add some games I ended up not liking for one reason or the other, this is quite a short list this year.

1. The Witness ; I'm not gonna lie, I didn't fhinish this game either. But hey, a substantial single player experience without any business model shenanigans (as far as I'm aware) is something that appreciate in the currenty gaming landscape. Of course, it was a fullfilling, interesting and quite unique puzzle game to boot.

2. Hitman ; Probably the best game I played this year. Marvelous level design that invites you to explore, with seemingly endless freedom to approach your goal, filled with challenges, which just make it hard no to replay the levels.

3. World of Warcraft: Legion ; I like to be critical when it comes to Blizzard, they make it so easy, but I always believe it's more worthwhile to commend someone, if they do something right. Whatever their motivation might have been, with Legion Blizzard finally left maintenance mode for WoW and updated the theme park to a more modern standard. And while not everything is a success, I can't help being impressed just how many new mechanics and changes they pushed for this expansion. I personally really liked they ditched faction specific quests for class hall quests, which often make good use of the old world too. Two things I bascially asked for a decade now.

4. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun ; My christmas holidays game, so I haven't gotten far yet. But what I have played so far is great. And I'm sucker for the setting, so I might come back and put it on the number 1 spot.

 

[Omotesando]

Hmmm. Uncharted will set an uncharted achievement if it wins goty this year.

 

[Withnail]

2016 was a great year.

1. The Last Guardian ; Probably in my all-time top five. Didn't want it to end. The mechanical issues just faded away for me and left me with an experience that would simply not be possible in any other medium.
2. The Witness ; The sense of discovery is amazing. You make progress by levelling up your own brain. Exquisite design.
3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; I think it does have some pacing issues, but it has some great set pieces, the combat is the best in the series, and Naughty Dog is so good at conveying human relationships.
4. Inside ; A pleasant surprise and a clear improvement on Limbo in all aspects. Love love love the way the story is deliberately left so ambiguous.
5. No Man's Sky ; I honestly find the community hysteria around this game bewildering. The devs over-promised, there's no doubt about that, but they also delivered a lot and I don't think we should attack indie devs for ambition. The Foundation update was a huge step in the right direction which leaves me very optimistic for the future of the game, and I hope over time people will look at it with fresh eyes.
6. Ratchet & Clank ; I ignored this at release but picked it up when it was on sale, and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Just a fun, polished, addictive game, and a return to form for Insomniac.
7. Rez Infinite ; Don't have a PSVR but it was so good to see this classic in 4K, and Area X brings it right into the present.
8. Firewatch ; Was slightly deflated by the direction the story took, but I loved the premise, the adult themes, walking around the park and looking at the night sky.
9. Enter the Gungeon ; This is so addictive (if a bit too difficult). Can't wait for the Supply Drop DLC next year.
10. Super Mario Run ; True story: this made me so nostalgic for the Mario games I played when I was younger that I just bought a used Wii U. ("all according to keikaku" right Nintendo?). Fantastic design for a game that is basically played with one button.

Honorable Mentions
x. Dishonored 2 ; The level design is incredible, though I find the gameplay quite finicky and can never achieve the kind of fluid and stylish play I feel the game expects of me.
x. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ; Campaign is pretty good but the best mode is zombies, have a lot of fun playing it with my real-life buddy.

 

[Aarglefarg]

Honorable Mentions
x. Dishonored 2

Ironic.

 

[ggx2ac]

1. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; Music, mirages and maturation. An underrated game due to its Japanese centric themes of the entertainment industry. The turn-based gameplay, music scenes and character personalities/development is where the game truly shines.
2. Root Double -Before Crime * After Days- Xtend Edition ; A visual novel that is a hidden gem this year. Spent so many sleepless nights to get through this game. There's plenty of reading material and story is every bit gripping to go through.
3. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice ; A good game despite having one of the lamest prosecutors to fight against.
4. Fire Emblem Fates ; It improves a lot gameplay wise but the story was a little lacklustre.
5. Monster Hunter Generations ; The new hunter styles are great for changing to a new weapon to primarily use. Has tons of content, so expect to invest at least a hundred hours, more like 500 hours.
6. Pocket Card Jockey ; Horse racing and solitaire make this game addicting, and you can give your horse funny names.
7. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; The best mainline Pokémon game so far, changes a lot of the formula and improves the gameplay mechanics and environment to make this game a fresh experience for the series.
8. Dragon's Dogma ; PC version running at 60 FPS improves the gameplay tremendously. A great Action JRPG thanks to its gameplay mechanics.
9. Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code ; A great fighter with solid mechanics that makes it stand well against the test of time since it took many years for this game to be officially released outside Japan.
10. Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator ; The 3D anime visuals are still great, playing with 1440p+ resolution at 60FPS makes the character visuals look really clean. Nice addition of new characters and the music is still solid.

Honorable Mentions
x. Pony Island ; Can't spoil much. A pretty good platformer and a hell of a puzzle game.
x. BoxBoxBoy! ; Doubling the boxes, BoxBoxBoy! gives more great puzzle-platforming.
x. Kirby: Planet Robobot ; Surprising well done in its change of mechanics and an epic final boss fight reminiscent of a particular Nintendo franchise.

 

[Jucksalbe]

I would really appreciate it if someone would look at my post from last year and point out what I did wrong for it not to count. The document said it was disqualified due to a gap but I can't find it.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190023455&postcount=102

Not sure how the parser works in detail, but my suspicion is that that number in Earth Defense Force caused some problems.

 

[danowat]

Man, I really need to try and fit Mafia 3 into my list somewhere, only started playing it a few days ago, but it's criminally underrated....

 

[Mista Koo]

1. The Witness ; To nominate a game that I hated the narrative of and skipped a huge chunk of sounds crazy, but that's just how impressive The Witness was to me.
2. Downwell ; Taking the lite part of roguelite literally, with a palette of only 4 colors and one direction to go, Downwell is a fantastic game that isn't lite when it comes to replayability and originality.
3. Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator ; The first Guilty Gear Xrd already nailed the 2D look using polygons. Revelator takes it a bit further by adding a simple tilt highlighting the trick at the start of every match, further cementing its place as the best looking fighting game.

 

[boybrushdRED]

1. Doom ; Great gameplay, great graphics, great sound design.
2. Overwatch
3. Rise of the Tomb Raider PC

Honorable Mentions
x. I am Setsuna
x. Pillars of Eternity - The White March Part II

 

[onepiecefan]

I barely played anything this year, largely due to my number 1 I guess:

1. Overwatch ; got me playing an online FPS seriously for the first time since Modern Warfare 2. An incredibly fun game with a great cast of characters that will keep you coming back, certainly my GOTY and is pretty much the sole reason I haven't delved into much else this year.
2. Uncharted 4 ; Great game in spite of a few issues, whilst it's not the best of the series it's still heads and shoulders above most other games.
3. Doom ; A real throwback game, it felt great playing an old school style shooter again. The art and graphics were also incredible, definitely a game I'd revisit.
4. Street Fighter V ; Although I'm mainly a Tekken man myself I still really enjoy playing SF games. It had some stupid problems initially with all the missing content and whatnot, but the game play was and is terrific, and for me that's the most important thing with fighters.
5. Furi ; One of the few random PS plus games that piqued my interest, I gave it a shot and thoroughly enjoyed it, enjoyable combat, beautiful designs and a really cool OST.
6. Final Fantasy XV ; I've barely scratched the surface to be completely honest so I'm not entirely in a position to judge it, but from what I have played it's been the business, lots of things to do, interesting characters, decent story, beautiful cinematics and fun combat.
7. Guilty Gear Xrd-Revelator ; My first guilty gear game and whilst it does take some time getting used to it, it plays really well and has a really really cool art style.

That's pretty much all I can say as I can't really remember playing much else this year.

 

[ForteanMan]

1. Final Fantasy XV ; May easily become my favorite Final Fantasy game, if only sliglhty behind FF IX. Had no interest in it at any point duirng it's 10 year development cycle, but bougt on a whim and haven't looked back since.

2. Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse ; Made one of my favorite games of all time, SMT IV, and improved on it in almost every way. I actually liked the characters much better in this game than in the first one.

3. Pokemon Moon ; a great new addition to the series. Amazing bunch of QOL improvements (no more HMs!). Plus Mimikyu is easily my favorite new Pokemon ever.

4. Dragon Quest VII ; great old-school RPG with an amazing job system.

5. World of Final Fantasy ; Such a cool spin-off game for the series. It was great seeing all of the various characters from the series history together in one title.

6. No Man's Sky ; I didn't get over-hyped too much by a lot of the buildup stuff. The game was exactly what I always wanted, simply to explore alien worlds.

7. Digimon Cyber Sleuth ; Had never even heard of this game prior to seeing the OT here on neogaf, but figured a new turn-based RPG couldn't be a bad investment. Had a ton of fun with this one, going from playing on my Vita to switching back to the PS4.

8. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; A decent sequel to one of my favorite games of 2011

9. Dragon Quest Builders ; great Minecraft-Clone which gave me what I always felt I was missing from actual Minecraft: directions and guidance, or a goal.

10. Fire Emblem Fates ; a great follow-up to the 3DS original which blew me away. I enjoyed this game, although I'd like to get around to playing the other two campaigns at some point in the future.

 

[Hasney]

1. Overwatch ; Whew, I've done so much thinking on the order of my top 3 it's crazy, but Overwatch takes it.
2. The Last Guardian ; Just beautiful and exactly what I wanted
3. Final Fantasy XV ; Best bro trip ever. Still playing side stuff
4. Watch_dogs 2 ; I've never seen a sequel with such a dramatic turnaround as this one after the shitshow of the original. Well played Uni.
5. Rigs: Mechanized Combat League ; The reason for me to own VR. Just wonderful fun
6. Stardew Valley ; The Harvest Moon I wanted more than I knew
7. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; It's not Persona, but it's a damn good second best
8. DOOM ; Didn't think they'd pull that off
9. Titanfall 2 ; The best campaign from a game whose prequel didn't even have a campaign
10. Hitman ; Episodic releases can actuallt work. Who knew?

 

[JarrodL]

Rounding up my list was pretty easy since I've actually played only 11 titles which released in 2016, so it's just a matter of deciding the one to leave out and ranking the rest. Detailed impressions can be found in the 52 games. 1 year thread (will try to update with impressions for Quantum Break and Hitman before the year ends).

1. XCOM 2

2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine

3. Hitman ; brought back what made earlier Hitman games unique and loved, and sprinkled the control and engine improvements from Absolution on top. Looking forward to Season 2.

4. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ; PC port released on Steam this year

5. Magic Duels: Kaladesh ; the latest expansion for Magic Duels: Origins released this year.

6. No Man's Sky

7. Quantum Break ; Interesting story and cool power mechanics, I enjoyed the game more than I thought I would.

8. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair ; PC port released on Steam this year

9. OZMAFIA!!

10. The Walking Dead: Michonne

The top spot was a photo-finish race between XCOM 2, Blood & Wine and Hitman, I've greatly enjoyed playing them all.

 

[spekkeh]

My favorite thread of the year, I decided would be even greater if I used the first twenty something pages to inform me what games I should still play during the first weeks of January, so thanks to all the early voters!

 

[AerialAir]

1. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse ; Best JRPG I've ever played. Fast-paced battling, fantastic narrative, and the never-old godly demon fusions.
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine ; Geralt goes out on a high note. Gorgeous landscape, Toussaint couldn't be a better place for his final contracts.
3. Persona 5 ; Played in Japanese so I didn't catch much of the story, but boy was this game stylish and the battle system is as solid as I've grown accustomed to with the MegaTen IP.
4. DOOM ; Merging old ideas with new ones. Doom 2016's gameplay is a true and bold tribute to the original, which is still, in my POV, the most influential shooter. 2016's campaign is very varied too.
5. BioShock: The Collection ; The now classic and art-defining IP is fully back in a package filled with great story telling, unique environments and gameplay.
6. Dishonored 2 ; Very bleak, exploration focused game with very exciting tech beyond it. Got the Limited Edition with the first one and it's a 10/10 package if you've never played this IP.
7. Fire Emblem Fates ; The best turn-based tactical RPG of this generation, a must buy for any 3DS owner.
8. Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration ; Finally got to play this one and having been playing TR since the first one came out, I say: this one is a great re-invention.
9. Dragon Quest VII ; I was begging SE and signing petitions for this to be localized for many years. No surprise that I loved it. A very long adventure with an exceptional variety in the class system.
10. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; Not as good as Human Revolution but it's still rich, has fully built characters and an immersive world, and it's still Deus Ex.

 

[Apenheul]

1. Dark Souls 3 ; while far from flawless I really liked how they managed to blend some of the core gameplay mechanics of Bloodborne with the structure and build variety of Dark Souls.

2. Fire Emblem Fates ; I've been (re)playing Fire Emblem games for almost two years non-stop now so the latest game coming out with three separate campaigns is ideal for me. Some people don't like the story or characters but that's not what I play these games for; for me they're sandbox strategy games where I can experiment with different party configurations and set my own challenges (such as 'put every archer you find in your party').

3. DOOM ; I never expected DOOM to be this good. It raises the bar for what a re-imagination means. The pacing is still good old DOOM but everything else has been upped to modern game expectations.

4. Pokemon Moon ; really enjoyable, felt like going on vacation. I hope the rumor of Pokemon Stars is true because I want to go back to Alola.

5. Gears of War 4 ; reminded me of Gears 1 a lot with its excellent campaign. Especially shines in co-op.

6. Batman Arkham VR ; short but really sweet. Basically an escape room in VR with good production values and some neat little VR gimmicks. Unfortunately there's next to no replayability for this sort of game.

7. The Witness ; while I didn't think it was as thought-provoking as Braid I highly enjoyed the insane amount of puzzles that all revolve around the same core mechanic. Excellent design.

8. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; I love Fire Emblem, I love Shin Megami Tensei and I love this crossover that hardly has anything to do with either but is still an awesome dungeon crawler that uses some of the imagery and language of said games.

9. Star Fox Zero ; the controls took some time to get used to but when it clicked the game was awesome (in my case I needed a second playthrough). Much more intense than any other Star Fox game.

10. Thumper ; I found Rez to be disappointing in VR and rather it was Thumper that gave me that 'in the zone' feeling I was expecting Rez to give me

 

[Goldrusher]

1. The Witness ; Absolute perfection. To take such a simple gameplay-concept, and turn it into such a massive, complex game is spectacular. And it looks gorgeous too. The graphics, the style, the attention to detail, the secrets everywhere, etc.
2. The Last Guardian ; Finally.
3. Inside ; Weird.
4. Unravel ; Beautiful.
5. Planet Coaster ; Impressive.
6. Virginia ; Dreamy.
7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Aww.
8. Mafia III ; Wow.
9. Firewatch ; Original.
10. Far Cry Primal ; Underrated.

 

[SpacLock]

1. DOOM ; This has been the most important game to me since MARIO 64. It's the most refreshing game I've played in years, and I will be replaying it for years to come.

2. Gears of War 4 ; This iteration took everything from each Gears multiplayer that worked and added new depth to it.

3. Inside ; It's short, sweet, and has production values with attention to detail I never expected.

4. Titanfall 2 ; This was a grower for me. I missed some aspects of Titanfall One, and it almost didn't click for me, but after a few hours everything made sense. This is one of the best multi experiences to be had this generation.


I wish I had more to talk about, but these were the big hitters for me this year. I am someone who discovered Rocket League this year, and it consumed a lot of my gaming time.

 

[Necron]

1. Dark Souls III ; The game I spent the most hours on this year. The DLC (Ashes of Ariandel) could have been better but features a fantastic boss fight. Some might argue that it's worse than Bloodborne (I'd agree) and doesn't do anything new in the series. However, I'd argue that it's still one of the best games in the Souls series to date and anyone wanting to start digging into the series should start here. Of course, they'd miss out on a lot of the lore from Dark Souls 1 which it re-uses quite heavily. Nonetheless, the bosses, the environments, the combat and the visuals have never looked and felt better in a Souls game.

2. DOOM ; Most likely the best shooter released this year. Fast and frantic action set on detailed maps that invite for exploration. I didn't expect anything from Doom and was positively surprised. I'd also like to commend on the performance on console, id Software did a great job here.

3. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine ; A lovely send-off to Geralt and his companions. Beautiful environment, amazing details and surrounded in a fantastic story - not as good as Hearts of Stone but still great. One of the best expansions and pieces of DLC I've ever bought. I think everyone who's now played Witcher 3 in its entirety is looking forward to their next game, Cyberpunk 2077. Just hope they won't be bought up by any of the big publishers...

4. INSIDE ; Reminded me of Heart of Darkness in many aspects... but even bleaker and with a dash of George Orwell's 1984/Oddworld thrown in. Thought/mind control puzzles were varied and interesting. At the end it's the overall experience that you take away from INSIDE rather than the moment to moment gameplay. Especially the ending; it will make you think for quite a while and makes you wonder "what the hell did I just play?"

5. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; I wasn't thrilled by Uncharted 4. It lacked the feeling of it being an Uncharted game and that really came down to the writing. I will say that it's one of the prettiest (if not the prettiest game) I played this year. The chase sequence was amazing to play and see... you think it'll never stop and just keeps on building. What a spectacle! In another year and with a greater sense of "pulp action" than it was able to instil, it would have made the top 3. I also didn't like the retcons with Sam and I saw the "big reveal" coming a mile away. Nonetheless, it's still better than Uncharted 3 in my opinion. I think Uncharted 4 could have had a much better plot than what we ended up getting. A nice send-off nonetheless to one of my favourite series on the PS3. Still have a soft-spot for Uncharted 1 but Uncharted 2 was the series's highpoint. Quite a lot of send-offs this year... Dark Souls, Witcher, Uncharted... man. Naughty Dog is still my favourite developer though. Looking forward to The Last of Us 2 and a new IP Naughty Dog!

6. Final Fantasy XV ; Square-Enix, and more specifically Tabata and Team have managed the impossible task of salvaging the trainwreck that probably was Versus XIII. I think they did an admirable job with what we got and I see that they still want to pursue to improve it. Wow. I feel a lot of love, care and motivation to bring us not only a good game but a Final Fantasy that had probably the most difficult road to travel to finally get to us. You did a good job, Square. Here's to Final Fantasy XV (and XVI) and my overall favourite series in gaming. Even though I love to hate it sometimes...

7. The Last Guardian ; In a year where we had not only FF XV releasing (and it actually being halfway decent) and DOOM being fantastic, we also got The Last Guardian released in almost conjunction to FF XV. Year of dreams? I think so at least. Yup, The Last Guardian is great to a point but I can feel that certain aspects are just not that good. I agree with Jim Sterling and I agree/understand the points he made in his review. It could have been better... it could have been much worse though.

8. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; The sequel to Deus Ex: HR feels like it's been cut short. The city of Prague as a hub is a fantastic choice and the visual design is amazing. Similar to the Human Revolution, what the game doesn't do on a technical level, it surpasses in art design. The characters are good and and the environments are a lot of fun to explore. It's a shame that the ending feels a little underwhelming. I really hope we'll get one more sequel at least from Eidos Montreal to round up the "Jensen Trilogy".

9. Mirror's Edge Catalyst ; Loved running around and getting the timing down. However, I feel that the open-world here was squandered. A similar game to Mirror's Edge should have focused on linear paths that got more and more complex. Mirror's Edge Catalyst is at its best during story missions when you get to have these paths to follow.

10. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Worse than Uncharted 4 in many aspects and I feel Crystal Dynamics could do so much more with Tomb Raider. The characters are boring and I feel that even Lara Croft herself had more personality in previous entries than here. We need characters like Sully, Elena etc. that I actually want to care about. I feel nothing, however. It's boring at the end of the day, sadly.


Honorable Mentions
x. Mafia III ; horrible in many regards and wouldn't make the top 10 in any way. However, I feel that I should highlight that it has amazing cutscenes, music, setting and characters.... and that's about it really. One of the most boring games I played in a long while though.
x. Ratchet & Clank ; beautiful looking game and one of Insomniac's best. Sadly, it's "just" a remake to release alongside their film. I would have liked a fully fledged sequel...
x. Dishonored 2 ; need to play more and haven't completed it yet. Otherwise it would probably have made the top 10 from what I've played.
x. Virginia ; I thought it was just "ok". Lovely music though.

 

[Vexingsruzz]

1. Overwatch; Got to this late but I’ve had a fantastic time playing this. All of the close matches and I’ve met some great people through it. Blizzard has really outdone themselves.
2. Fire Emblem Fates; Despite the lackluster story, the gameplay additions and improvements kept me coming back. Also the relationship dynamics between both sets of siblings was great and made you feel like a prick for picking one family over the other.
3. XCOM 2; XCOM:EW was fantastic and 2 expanded upon it in every possible way. Had a great time and will definitely go back for another campaign.
4. Titanfall 2; Didn’t play the first one due to a lack of Xbox One, but the Titan combat got me intrigued for the sequel. I suck at FPS’s but getting into a Titan made me forget that and I just had fun piloting a giant mecha. That and BT being a bro made this game one of my favourites.
5. Dark Souls 3; Fantastic conclusion to an amazing series. The DLC thus far was a little underwhelming, but the main game was sublime.
6. Banner Saga 2; I was able to continue my odyssey explore more of this fascinating world. Played through it twice (due to the different ending states from the first game) and seeing the variations in the story were great.
7. Final Fantasy XV; Haven’t beaten this one yet but the bromance between the main group has already endeared it to me more than XIII ever did.
8. Kirby: Planet Robobot; Just classic Kirby with mecha. A joy to play through and can’t wait for the next one.
9. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney; Spirit of Justice: Good cases, interesting characters and the usual crazy that comes with the Ace Attorney series makes this an easy pick for me.
10. Shantae: ½ Genie Hero; Working my way through it but the charm, music and tight controls have been great so far.

 

[Fbh]

1. Dark Souls 3 ; Some creative issues make it feel like a "best hits" version of the souls franchise . While that might be dissapointing for some, it also means that this game represents some of the best that this franchise, my favorite franchise in gaming, has to offer. And it looks and plays better than ever

2. Uncharted 4: A Thief's end ; Naughty Dog once again nailed it with their special kind of cinematic games. The pacing might not be ideal for various playthroughs but I found it excelent the first time through. I personally love that the game wasn't afraid to spend time showing Nate and Elena in their daily lives or flashbacks to Nate as a kid despite the fact that all of these moments are very light on gameplay. To me the story really felt like a great closure to the franchise. Also, the gunplay is better than ever, visually it's one of the most stunning games I've seen on any platform and even the multiplayer, while not as good as 2, gave me tons of hours of fun (and now has me back at it playing survival mode)

3. Doom ; By looking back to the past and incorporating things we rarely see in shooters anymore, Doom just feels so refreshing. In a time when most shooters seem like they are about cover, Doom is all about staying on the move and facing your enemies head on. The design decision of having melee finishers be the best way to recover health is both simple and brilliant and gives the game a type of "flow" that makes it so fun. Add to it some great level design that encourages exploration, some great graphics and the fact that even on consoles it runs at 60fps and you just have an overall fantastic game.

4. Final Fantasy XV ; Never have I had so much fun with such an obviously flawed game. The fact that this game went through 10 years of development, 2 directors and constant changes over the years can be seen and felt in almost every aspect of it. The story is incomplete, the pacing all over the place and most of the sidequests forgettable.... yet it has still been so much fun going through it. I really liked the combat which I think manages to strike a good balance between being fun to play and flashy to watch, the music is top tier and the world beautiful and fun to explore with some enjoyable sidecontent including great dungeons and hunts. And for as many issues as the story might have, the friendship and camaraderie between the main cast feels convincing and manages to carry the weak plot. By the end of the game I didn't feel like I had just been told an amazing story, but it did feel like comming to the end of an epic journey with these 4 guys that I had become attached to during the past 35 hours.

5. Battlefield 1 ; The change of setting and time period did a lot to revive my interest in the franchise and make it feel unique. And I love the weapons and vehicles in this. But what makes this game so enjoyable to me is how cinematic it feels. Which is weird because when we talk about "cinematic" games we generally talk about more linear and scripted games like Uncharted. Yet so many times in this game I feel like I'm playing the final setpiece battle of a war movie, with my squad charging into battle while a flaming zeppelin is crashing to the ground... and all of it is happening in real time on a giant map with 63 other players online.

6. Furi ; Furi is just awesome. A boss rush game with the type of bosses and combat that many high budget action games would kill for. Every encounter feels unique, one moment you will be jumping between cover to avoid sniper shots, the next you will be in an epic Sword duel and then later you will feel like you are playing a bullet hell game. All with a great art style, great music and combat that will test your skill but have you looking stylish as hell while doing so.

7. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; Feels a bit like more of the same and it's also a bit of a technical mess (at least on consoles). But the stealth gameplay is as good as ever and Prague makes a very strong case for how a small but well designed open world can be so much better and rewarding than most open world games trying to impress with size.

8. Gravity Rush Remastered ; It's a remaster. But it's a really well made remaster that I had a blast going through. Gravity Shifting quickly became my favorite way of moving around an open world to the point that this is actually the only game that I can think of where I have taken the time to complete and get gold in every "trial" type event it has.
The setting, art direction and music are all unique and very enjoyable and the combat is enjoyable in its simplicity.
The only aspect of it that I disliked is the dissapointing story. While the characters are likable the plot feels like it's more concerned about setting up a sequel than actually telling a good story. Literally every big plot point is left to be resolved in the sequel, and the game ends with some rushed and out of nowhere threat.




Games I've yet to play and that might get me to update my list if I play them before the deadline:
Rise of the Tomb Raider Ps4, Inside, Titanfall 2 and Owlboy

 

[InaudibleWhispa]

1. The Witness ; The puzzles gripped me completely. There are so many smart design choices that blew me away. The world is wonderfully realised with a ton of clever visual intrigue.

2. Planet Coaster ; The creative tools are unrivalled. The attention to detail in the presentation is genuinely incredible. The management aspects might not have evolved as much as the tools, but as a sandbox player it is an absolute constant joy.

3. Inside ; Absolutely gorgeous. Fantastic pacing; the perfect length, difficulty, and variety of gameplay & locations. It goes in a totally unexpected direction (in terms of gameplay rather than thematically), and I enjoyed theorising about all the little details.

4. Hitman ; Had somehow managed to never play a hitman game until now despite its appeal. This ticked all the boxes I'd expect from a game in this genre. It's silly, fun, tense and tough but fair. I also really enjoyed the ongoing and evolving content additions.

5. SUPERHOT ; One great idea absolutely nailed to perfection. It's rare for a game to reward you with nothing other than feeling like a badass this frequently. Add to that a clean and smart art style and a story that was totally not needed, but takes you in some surprising directions nevertheless.

6. Firewatch ; I don't think I've experienced characters as natural as in this game. The performances and dialogue are unmatched, and while I understand some folks dissatisfaction with the direction/conclusion of the narrative, I appreciated side-stepping the extraordinary in favour of a more human story.

7. Oxenfree ; A really fun, brief adventure that offers up some X-Files-esque supernatural fun via really great use of audio and storytelling. The gameplay itself may have been minimal to a fault, but the story and characters offered more than enough intrigue to keep the momentum flowing.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Query:

Fire Emblem Fates was released as one package, in admittedly limited quantity, as a triple pack. Am I not able to vote for that? It seems contradictory that Assassin's Creed Chronicles Trilogy Pack is eligible for voting, but I can't cast a vote for Fire Emblem Fates as a whole.

After a quick but not exhaustive glance, it looks like people are simply voting for "Fire Emblem Fates." So be it.

 

[Cheesemeister]

I would really appreciate it if someone would look at my post from last year and point out what I did wrong for it not to count. The document said it was disqualified due to a gap but I can't find it.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=190023455&postcount=102

It looks like this post wiped your ballot:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=193036760&postcount=3275

 

[Servbot24]

1. The Witness ; Blow has established himself as perhaps the most exciting developer in the industry. Without uttering a single english phrase, The Witness taught me a new language, tickling and stretching my wits for the entirety of the journey. Top 20 game of all time.

2. The Last Guardian ; I didn't hold any extra expectation for this game due to the long wait, but even if I had, it would have been worth it. Ueda is one of the industry's premier visionaries, and he's operating at as high of a level as he ever has.

3. Uncharted 4 ; Naughty Dog have created a masterclass in storytelling and pacing that is so far beyond other games, many Gamers are unable to process it. This is one we'll look back on with new appreciation in 10 years.

4. Dark Souls III ; Dark Souls continues to refine itself. The greatness of Dark Souls and Demons Souls is not far off, but I am also glad the series is coming to a conclusion since part of what makes this series so special was not knowing what the series is.

5. Inside ; A beautifully elegant and intense little package. This is about as complete of a game as you can find this year, and has some of the most memorable moments in the medium.

6. Hyper Light Drifter ;

7. Stephen's Sausage Roll ;

8. Final Fantasy XV ;

9. DOOM ;

10. Pokemon Sun / Moon ;

 

[Barry Burton]

I already can see this being a really difficult ranking for me, especially at the top.

Need to finish Hitman still (only through Sapienza). Also want to do the Titanfall 2 campaign and at least play a little bit of FFXV.

Great year! I see a lot of your guys' ballots are looking a whole lot like what mine will look like.

 

[Grim Patron]

1. VA-11 HALL-A ; A game unlike any other. I will buy this on every platform.
2. Overwatch ; Replaced Hearthstone as my addiction.
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse ; Superb follow up to SMTIV
4. Steins;Gate 0 ; Didn't think I needed followup to Steins Gate but this delivered in spades
5. 7th Dragon III Code VFD ; My favourite SEGA game in ages. I still enjoy going back to it.
6. The Last Guardian ; Take a bow Ueda. What an experience.
7. The Witness ; Jonathan Blow created another masterpiece.
8. Dragon Quest Builders ; Minecraft but actually fun after the first dozen hours.
9. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II ; I finally see why this is the best selling Falcom game.
10. DOOM ; ID Software still has what it takes to make a Doom after the disappointing garbage Doom 3.

Honorable Mentions
x. HITMAN ; If this wasn't shackled by a nonsense online system, it would be on the proper list. True next gen.
x. Firewatch ; Another great game that didn't make the list.

Edit - wonder if the smtiva, steins gate 0 etc name listings with their own punctuation cause problems?

 

[Zesh]

1. Dark Souls III ; I was quite sure coming into this year that this would be my game of the year, and I wasn't disappointed. Soulsborne is one of my favorite series, and Dark Souls III is a worthy installment. I didn't like it as much as last year's Bloodborne, though that was certainly a hard game to top. It also doesn't have the interconnected world of the original Dark Souls, but there's still a lot to like. It has some great areas and fantastic bosses, and is notable for being one of the rare games in the series whose latter half is actually stronger than the former, with some of its best areas and bosses appearing toward the end of the game. The DLC, while short, features one of the best bosses in the series. This was the game I sunk the most time into this year, and I hope the final DLC next year is a good sendoff for the series.

2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine ; The fact that "Witcher" is in the title should explain why this is so high on my list, despite just being a DLC. CDPR are just so far ahead of the rest of the field when it comes to WRPGs, and Blood and Wine certainly lives up to their reputation. The DLC has more value to it than many full games, with a beautiful area, fantastic characters, and an interesting story, though the story isn't quite good as last year's Hearts of Stone. Quests like the one where you enter a fairy tale world are just ingenious. Overall, this was a great end to Geralt's story, and I'm excited to see what CDPR does next.

3. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; I'm surprised that this ended up being so high on my list, as this wasn't really even on my radar until recently. I decided to get it on a whim, and I was pleasantly surprised. This game gave reinvigorated the franchise with some fresh ideas, and featured plenty of quality of life improvements that I hope persist going forward. This was a fun game, and probably the best Pokemon game on the 3DS.

4. Dishonored 2 ; A great example of a sequel that just improves on every facet of the original game (barring the unfortunate performance issues). The level design and gameplay mechanics in this game are just sublime, with a lot of freedom afforded to the player in terms of how they want to complete the missions. A great game for anyone interested in the stealth genre.

5. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; This was a great sendoff for the series, with a very satisfying conclusion. It had one of the best setpieces in the series, and the improved gunplay was a welcome feature. It's sad to see these characters go, but they had a good ride.

6. Street Fighter V ; A fighter with fantastic gameplay that was marred by an abysmal launch. Capcom rushed to get this one out the door, and they suffered for it, as the only aspect of the game that appeared to be finished was the gameplay itself. Still, the gameplay s very satisfying, which gives it its place on my list.

7. Doom ; I'm not a big fan of the FPS genre, but I decided to give this one a shot after hearing all of the praise. It was worthy of the hype, and turned me on a bit to the genre. Slaughtering hordes of demons with the fast, smooth, and satisfying combat never gets old.

8. Titanfall 2 ; After Doom, I was a bit more interested in FPS games, but not the multiplayer aspect. There was a lot of praise for this game's campaign, so I decided to experience it for myself. This was indeed a great campaign, with some great level design and interesting mechanics that never outstayed their welcome.

9. The Last Guardian ; Another game I decided to get on a whim, having never played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, and this ended up being a great experience. It was touching to see the relationship between Trico and the boy develop over the course of the game. The puzzles were pretty fun as well, and the ending was quite satisfying.

10. Sid Meier's Civilization VI ; My first Civilization game, and one that prompted me to sink about 20 hours into it over the course of a weekend, unsurprisingly. I never tried multiplayer, but there's a lot of replay value in doing multiple singleplayer campaigns with different approaches and nations.

Honorable Mentions
x. Final Fantasy XV ; This was an enjoyable game, but still my biggest disappointment of the year. The combat, main characters, and some of the setpieces are quite nice, but the story and fetch quests bring this down a lot. I hope FFXVI is a return to form, as this is sadly one of the worst FFs for me.

x. I Am Setsuna ; A fun little traditional JRPG. There was nothing groundbreaking about this title, but it was still one that I had a satisfying time with, and one that hit my old JRPG nostalgia.

 

[SOME-MIST]

I definitely haven't counted or even seen every page but Overwatch seems to show up on almost every list in some capacity. While many were disenchanted with UC4 or didn't play TLG, those extra points could definitely help. Will be interesting to see!

definitely not in my list. I actually got it refunded.
that's coming from someone who spent 7 years playing team fortress classic competitively in between playing quake 3. I get the broad appeal (moba fps instead of an advanced high paced arena shooter) but everything was a little to simplistic (especially the weapon/attack buildouts) for me to find it exciting. two full nights of sinking time into it (and dominating) with with irl friends was all it took for me to request a refund.

 

[Goldmund]

1. Stephen's Sausage Roll ; No soothing oscillation between them, just the extreme downs and ups of deservedly feeling stupid and undeservedly feeling smart. One of the simplest, hardest and best puzzlers I've ever played.
2. Thumper ; Finally we get a visual and sonic representation of the dread our parents associated with the harmless video games of our youth. A great example of coherence: gameplay, sound and visuals working in harmony.
3. Hyper Light Drifter ; Tailored to my overall tastes like no other.
4. Dishonored 2 ; The "looker" of the year. Stunning environments, entertaining and varied gameplay, serviceable story.
5. Devil Daggers ; Probably the best distillation of raw "game" this year. Sometimes a little too "pure" for my tastes.
6. Owlboy ; I'm not sure if I love this game or if I just haven't been able to disassociate myself from my longing to play it yet.
7. Dark Souls III ; It's another Dark Souls, yo.
8. Stardew Valley ; As close as any game has ever gotten to recapturing the Super Nintendo's Harvest Moon.
9. Firewatch ; Walking simulators/non-game games are still coming along nicely. One of the great new genres, this being an instant classic.
10. The Witness ; I thought this was going to be my game of the year but I just really liked it.

 

[III-V]

1. Uncharted 4: A Theif's End ; Nate becomes the family patriarch, claims glory, and becomes a father.
2. Dark Souls III ; A return to a dark land with the heart of Dark Souls and the fluidity of Bloodborne.
3. The Witness ; Excellent puzzle adventure harkening back to Myst. Beautiful, complex and brutal all at once. Best HDR implementation to date.
4. Ratchet & Clank ; More fun than I expected in this lighthearted romp with a very nice HDR implementation to complement 'Toy Story' style visuals.
5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Stunning visuals, exciting combat and high frame rate make this game a fun ride.
6. Paper Mario: Color Splash ; A return to the world of Paper Mario, its a great game the whole family enjoyed.
7. The Last Guardian ; The game that time forgot dug it's lifeless corpse from the grave and emerged as a really amazing experience.
8. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; A last hurrah to Gerald of Rivia, through a picturesque countryside that only left me wanting for more.
9. VR Worlds ; Excellent collection of mini-games that are great to showcase VR to family and friends.
10. The Division ; I had a great time with this game during the campaign. Hoping to see more with DLC and some game tweaks. Potential for greatness.

 

[theprodigy]

After a quick but not exhaustive glance, it looks like people are simply voting for "Fire Emblem Fates." So be it.

....

can you still differentiate between voting for just one version

 

[Cheesemeister]

....

can you still differentiate between voting for just one version

No, it's one or the other. Sorry.

 

[Agent Matt]

1. Dragon's Dogma ; Take note Bethesda and CD Projekt RED, this is how ARPG combat is done.
2. Dark Souls III ; Solid (if not groundbreaking) Souls gameplay easily makes the list.
3. The Last Guardian ; A unique and wondrous game (despite the garbage camera).
4. Ratchet & Clank ; Pure platforming goodness and knockout visuals with PS4 Pro.
5. Monster Hunter Generations ; Excellent new features and content keep MH great.
6. Hyper Light Drifter ; Best visual and audio design of 2016 plus great gameplay.
7. Overwatch ; Expertly designed and crafted, easily tops the competitive FPS heap.
8. Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 ; Best 2016 game I played with my PSN set to appear offline.
9. World of Warcraft: Legion ; I tried to get out but they pulled me back in.
10. Street Fighter V ; Just as much fun to watch as it is to play.

 

[Aaron D.]

Great to see several mentions for Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun in spite of it being a Dec. release with zero marketing. Definitely my Surprise Hit of the year.

And did I just see someone else rank Stephen's Sausage Roll at the top of their list? What a wonderful time to be alive.

 

[888eddyx]

1. Pokemon Sun and Moon ; Brought life into a stale series. Best writing in a Pokemon game. New Favorite Game of All Time.
2. Ratchet & Clank ; Again brought life into an older series. All other remakes/reimaginings of games should strive to be this much of an improvement.
3. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End ; A great way to end a great series. Some of the best writing and characters in a year with plenly of great writing and characters.
4. Overwatch ; The game that got me into multiplayer shooters. Endless hours of fun with this colorful cast of varied characters. Also Mei is best girl.
5. Titanfall 2 ; An amazing single player campaign coming from the first game, which had none at all. This is proof that developers can listen to their fans, and deliver.
6. The Last Guardian ; A touching story and an amazing feat in articial intelligence.
7. Mega Man Legacy Collection ; A collection of some of the best NES classics. Along with great extras like boxart scans, concept art and a music player.
8. Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 ; I know I'm super late to the party, but damn is this game fun. I'm not usually one for fighters, but this one hits the spot for me.
9. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth ; I'm amazed this game was even released in the West. I hope this trend continues.
10. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD; This allowed me to replay my first, and most nostalgic, Zelda title. It would've been listed higher had it not been a full-priced uprez of a 10 year old game.

Honorable Mentions
x. Pokemon GO ; a fun experiment, but doesn't hold a candle to the main series. Plus I'm not a fan of mobile gaming.
x. Doom ; Ugh this game looks so fun, I just didn't have enough time this year to play it all the way through yet though. It's next on my list of games to beat.
x. Duke Nukem 3D: 20th Anniversary World Tour ; My first experience playing Duke Nukem 3D, and boy was I missing out.
x. Pokken Tournament ; A fun experiment, though I'm not big on fighters.
x. Superhot ; An idea so simple yet so original I can't help but wish I had thought of it.
x. Fire Emblem Fates ; Another game that WOULD'VE made my list, had I had more time to play through it this year.

 

[NightShift]

It looks like this post wiped your ballot:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=193036760&postcount=3275

Is that because I put a number two at the start? Well, thank you for finding that.

 

[YankeeDonB]

I've done a horrible job keeping up with Indies this year, but this thread has sold me on Furi and Shadow Tactics.

 

[Thores]

After a quick but not exhaustive glance, it looks like people are simply voting for "Fire Emblem Fates." So be it.

Thank you for this!

 

[Doctor Ninja]

1. Doom ; It's one of the greatest retro throwbacks I've ever played, it's visceral action and excellent level design make for a great experience. The weapons were one of the most fun I've seen in an FPS for a long time. It's a great alternative to your CODs and Gears that I wish developers would make more of.

2. Overwatch ; I hated most of Blizzard's output in the past few years, but Overwatch really surprised me, I never thought I'd lose so many our in an online FPS. In a world dominated with MOBAs and progression shooters, Overwatch's old-school sensibilities is a breath of fresh air.

3.Firewatch ; While I didn't like the gameplay all that much, there is so much character in this game that would make other so called "walking simulators" jealous.

4.Furi ; This has to be one of the most intense games I've played this year (aside from Doom), having boss fight after boss fight and each boss feel like and entire level is such a great accomplishment for an indie game.

5. INSIDE ; I really love how they depicted how hopeless you'd be in a true dystopian scociety, even if the ending didn't do much for me.

6. The Witness ; I loved the environments, I loved all the small surprises you'd find out if you explored the island more, and I mostly loved how it subtly teaches you all of the mechanics you'd need to finish the game.

7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; While I felt like this gameplay doesn't appeal to me anymore, and that I feel it got a little stale by the end. I did thoroughly enjoy Drake's final adventure.

 

[Yoshi]

1. Fire Emblem Fates ; Particularly the Conquest version. After the introduction of grinding that ruined the beautiful balance of Fire Emblem in Awakening, Conquest is not only a return to form, but a fantastically designed game as well. The improved partner mechanics and creative level design yield a fresh experience that keeps on surprising. The removal of any busywork and even the dumb weapon breaking mechanics further improved the game. A strict difficulty and super-snappy controls round off a fantastic game that is among my best games of all time, and certainly my favourite SRPG ever made.
2. Star Fox Zero ; A great surprise to me. I was carefully optimistic that I would like Star Fox Zero, but after the complaints about the controls, I was worried. However, the controls work like charme, the level design is intense and overall the game is a joy to play. A great arcade experience and one of the best single player uses of the GamePad as well. I really loved the addes precision through the motion controls as well.
3. Paper Mario: Colour Splash ; A well-made follow-up to Sticker Star that dials down the obscurity of the puzzles a bit, but in turn made the world itself more enjoyable. A great goodbye title for Wii U.
4. Ittle Dew 2 ; A fantastic Zelda-like game that excels in all three areas, puzzles, exploration and combat. Highly recommended. I would buy it again as a physical copy.
5. Zero Time Dilemma ; Gameplay-wise the best title of the series, with some really nice puzzle design. The story couldn't completely live up to Virtue's Last Reward, but still Zero Time Dilemma sports one of the best stories in video gaming, so I can hardly fault it for that.
6. Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS ; As a level designer it's just the inferior version of the Wii U game, but the new levels by Nintendo make this a really worthwhile purchase that offers a lot of fun for any Mario fan. The level design is absolutely not comparable to the demo levels in the Wii U version, but really offers some legitimate fun challenge. It's great to play some new levels in the Super Mario Bros. 1, 3, World and NSMBU style. Also I love the challenging extra challenges.
7. Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice ; A surprisingly great game that is only hampered a bit by being short. The new fire / ice mechanics are a welcome addition, the level design is a significant step up from the predecessor and the challenge was also upped. I had a way better time than I would have ever imagined in advance. A legitimately good platformer.
8. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice ; I loved the new insight mechanics, which added a welcomed layer of complexity to the trials. This improvement in gameplay was accompanied with less hand-holding (though still a significant amount of it) and a very fun story.
9. Steins Gate 0 ; A fantastic interlude to Steins Gate, though I would have preferred a timeline with Kurisu instead of Mayuri. The new characters were great, the overall plot intriguing and Daru less annoying
10. The Witness ; Witty puzzle design, well integrated into a nice looking world. A creative pool of ideas that are simple, yet intriguing.

x. FreezeME ; Some really nice platforming. Not absolutely at the top of the genre, but all-around solid and fun game that is well worth playing.

Inquiry: Does Super Mario Bros. 3's bonus content on the Wii U Virtual Console count? It's the first European release of these levels and the levels are fantastic. For now I did not count that, because I'm unsure if I am allowed to.

Previous Years:
2015 (GotY: Yoshi's Woolly World)
2014 (GotY: Yoshi's New Island)
2013 (GotY: Super Mario 3D World)
2012 (GotY: New Super Mario Bros. U)
2011 (GotY: Zelda Skyward Sword)
2010 (GotY: Super Mario Galaxy 2)
2009 (GotY: New Super Mario Bros. Wii)
2008 (GotY: Sonic Unleashed)
2007 (GotY: Super Mario Galaxy)
2006 (GotY: Zelda: Twilight Princess)
2004 (2012 edition) (GotY: Pikmin 2)

 

[op_ivy]

1. Dirt Rally ; Simply racing game perfection. Hard core rally fan's dream come true but also a game anyone curious about should check out. Very thrilling with a steep and rewarding learning curve. Not sure why codies wasted their time with the additional modes (rally cross, hill climb) though, I'd have prefered more rally content. This really deserves more praise and exposure. Instant classic sitting among gamings very best of my 30+ years of playing.
2. Inside ; One of the best, most emotional gaming experiences I've ever had.
3. Quantum Break ; Pacing issues aside, I loved the flow of the combat loop - using time powers and blasting enemies in an endless chain of bad assery. Really cool story too.
4. Titanfall 2 ; Shockingly good campaign that actually brings cool new ideas to the genre and delivers on wallrunning/platforing expectations. Multiplayer was a bit of a let down from the first, but has a promising future (I think).
5. Forza Horizon 3 ; Amazingly polished game with a clear passion of cars and car culture that you just can't help but get wrapped up in. Still some issues with progression and cluttered design holding it back from true excellence.
6. Doom ; This is about as close to a perfect reinvisioning of doom that you could make. Its fast, gorgeous, fun, and creepy. Sadly I found the movement controls sucky, but I seem to be alone in this complaint and its something I can adjust to, but not totally overcome, with time
7. Gears of War 4 ; New dev team delivers on a truly great gears experience.

 

[ohkay]

1. Overwatch ; This game has consumed my free time for 2016 because it is everything I could want of a competitive fps

 

[Loris146]

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Perfect way to end a great franchise

2. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; The best DLC of all time

3. Ratchet and Clank ; Fun game with a good mix of platforming and shooting

 

[Floody]

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; A great final adventure for a great series. An absolutely beautiful game, with great combat (best in the series and up there with the best in the genre, just wish there was more though) and some absolutely wonderful moments, with a really lovely end. If there was more combat and it had better pacing, it'd easily be my favourite in the series.
2. Final Fantasy XV ; A flawed gem, but a gem it is, really great lead characters that I just loved my time with and a simple but fun combat system lead to me putting in like 80 hours of my time and I still keep coming back.
3. Dark Souls 3 ; Doesn't do an awful lot new, but From have completely mastered the formula making for one hell of a game.
4. The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine ; Everything good about the Witcher 3 is here, with a great story, characters, moments and a beautiful world, probably be higher is I didn't have to drop it for a few months about halfway through, but still excellent.
5. Dues Ex: Mankind Divided ; Like DS3 more of the same, but just far better done than it's predecessor, with some greatly designed levels and great side content, just let down by a story that feels cut in half.
6. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ; It's SP is as good as it's MP is shit, an incredibly fun and different campaign, with some great characters, moments and locals, definitely my surprise of the year.
7. Battlefield 1 ; The first week it was probably my GOTY, BF at is best, with just constant great moments after moments, all in a MP mode. It was just after that ran out the lack of variety kinda killed it and I dropped it. The campaign was crap too.

 

[Inspector Q]

Man, I didn't get to play through much this year. Kind of sad because I know there are a lot of good games out there, but I just can't seem to find the time to get to them. Anyways, here is my list:

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; I played through the Nathan Drake Collection just prior to playing this game and the whole experience was just a really great time. A very satisfying ending to Nate's tale. Now I can't wait to check out the Chloe/Nadine DLC. Should be cool. I also got a lot of good hours out of the MP which just adds to the overall package.
2. XCOM 2 ; I really enjoyed both this game and the first one. I wonder if we are going to get a part 3...? Also wouldn't mind seeing these guys do a XCOM style game using another IP (Star Wars, Warhammer, D&D, etc etc).
3. Gears of War 4 ; This was an enjoyable ride, but I kind of hate the MP, to be honest. But yeah, the SP was cool, though JD is kind of a lame character so far.
4. Dishonored 2 ; Haven't even finished this yet. Just takes me forever to complete games nowadays, lol. But I have enjoyed what I have played so far. The level design is ridiculous (in a good way). There is so much to explore in every inch of every level. It's pretty crazy. The worst part about this game is that we don't get to see the awesome character designs of Emily and Corvo because everything is done in first person. That kind of sucks. They need to lend these characters out to be used in other games or something, lol.
5. Dark Souls III ; I never got through this entire game. I think I stopped at the swamp. I don't know, it still seemed like a great game, but I may have been burned out on the souls type of experience as I had recently beaten Bloodborne prior to DS3 coming out.
6. Total War: Warhammer ; I didn't see this on the list of nominees, but I assume it was just an oversight or I missed it somehow. I really love the world and lore of Warhammer (both Fantasy and 40K) so this was a cool game to check out. My problem is that I suck at the combat system, lol. So while I loved seeing all the troop types and different Lord characters come to life in a video game, actually playing the game was kind of a chore for me. Still, I am glad that it seemed to do well, both commercially and critically.

And that's about it. I am not even going to list the other games that I played since they have no business being on any top ten list.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

1. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; A very worthy follow up to 2011's Human Revolution that returns with a single but greatly expanded hub world allowing for some of the greatest variety and exploration systems in AAA games that I haven't seen in many years. Imo, this will be looked on with more fondness down the line than it seems to be receiving at present.

2. DOOM ; a rip roaring, bloody, fast and simply gratifying action experience and one we haven't seen in the AAA space in so so long.

3. Hitman ; a fantastic return to form for the series after losing it's way with the previous title in the series, Absolution. Also the greatest example of the use of an episodic title I've seen yet, and also as a single player driven "games-as-a-service" title. I feel this is a game that other publishers will be keeping a close eye on.

4. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ; Rereleased on PC this year and it's a wonderfully funny mix of anime madness with Phoenix Wright style murder mystery. And Monokuma is just a lovably charismatic villain!

5. Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair ; Similar to the above really. Not as good as the first game but still great and I love it for the same reasons as it's predecessor.

6. Dark Souls 3 ; More Souls. That's all that needs to be said at this point really. The series has earned a long needed break now though.

7. VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action ; The cyberpunk aesthetic and rather original premise (a visual novel where you play a bartender and mix drinks for patrons) drew me to this, but what I didn't expect was a surprisingly endearing (and in some places rather emotional) story driven by a diverse cast of characters. In addition, it also manages to give a rather deliberately limited look at the title's oppressive sci-fi world. While it doesn't provide as much info or context on certain topics and themes as you may like, it does make the world seem all the more grounded and real for these characters, as this miserable place is the one they must still call live, work and play in regardless.

8. ClusterTruck ; The floor is lava BUT you also must jump between the trucks of a moving convoy. Hilarious fun!

9. Superhot ; "The most innovative FPS I've played in years" as you are supposed to say, and well it certainly is one of the most original. Time only moves when you move, and it's an idea that just cements badassery in your mind as you play.

10. XCOM 2 ; An expanded/alternate take of what made XCOM EU so admired; now you are the underdog.