Hey, 2016. Fuck You. Anyway, here's some games I like.
1. Dark Souls III ; I was here this time last year decrying Bloodborne for being 'just another Dark Souls game' and that I was potentially getting tired of the formula. And yet here we are. I can't really tell you why I like Dark Souls III so much. It's a superlative RPG that encourages you take risks and slaps you down hard when you get cocky. It's dense and varied and imaginative and creepy and weird and mad. But so were all the others.
To be perfectly honest I think the main reason I loved this one so much was because I finally felt like I had a handle on things. The game was no longer a daunting obstacle it was a challenging adventure. I completed the damn thing four times. Which therefore allowed me to slow down and take in the monstrous sights. There's so much you miss, in terms of level design, character models, enemy variety, story structure etc when you feel like you're on the edge of dying constantly that losing that worry allows you to appreciate.
In many ways I'm entirely late to the party. People were exulting Dark Souls for these things four games ago. And yet if any series deserves continued praise it's this one.
2. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; Joy rarely gets distilled down into a game so well. Pokemon's had something of a stellar year, proving it can simultaneously reflect on its past as well as push forward to the future.
And lets be honest here, Sun and Moon aren't some huge upheaval in the main series. But what they do is breath new life into a previously ageing formula. Probably more than any other game this year, you can see just how much work has been put in to this fantasy world. Machamps build houses. Hypnos are used in marketing. Corsolas swim around in aquariums. It's a living, breathing world with its own customs and beliefs, and that goes a long way in making a place I wanted to spend hours and hours in.
3. The Witness ; I love and hate The Witness. I spent a good four hours on a single puzzle, trying every permutation, testing theories, looking for clues. Eventually I gave up. I caved. I looked up the answer. It killed me, because up to that point I had adored the game. And for the record, I maintain that puzzle was horseshit.
But the fact that I committed so much time is testament to its qualities. Its a game that tells you nothing but makes you feel damn good for working stuff out. Rules are slowly parsed out and then built up, getting gradually more complex and playing with something you learnt to be true only a few minutes ago. And the moments when these come together makes for a truly satisfying experience.
4. Picross 3D: Round 2 ; I've been playing Picross-style games for years. It's a fairly basic formula and most of the time makes for an enjoyable puzzle experience. But Picross 3D goes beyond that. It makes it an incredibly fun, satisfying, deep challenge with enough layers and massive variety to be above and beyond all others.
Putting this next to The Witness feels somewhat weird, but both present unique yet enjoyable takes on the puzzle genre.
5. Overwatch ; I'm not good at shooters. After playing Overwatch I remain not good at shooters. But for those many hours I spent playing the game I felt like I finally had talent. No matter who I was playing, and no matter how much I actually contributed, I felt good working as part of a team.
And that doesn't speak to the sheer quality of animation, character design and world building that has been applied to make something feel like its bursting with personality. This game feels like it values your time and what's nothing better than for you to feel good. And in that it succeeded.
6. Dragon Quest Builders ; In spite of everything, Minecraft remains an enigma to me. I can see the fun in it, I just get absolutely nothing from it. And that's because I was the instruction kid; give me a set of LEGO for Christmas and I will strictly follow the guide. I have imagination, sure, but building something of my own somehow seemed wrong. Clever people with clever ideas are much better at that.
All of which is to say Dragon Quest Builders is my Minecraft. Give me quests, give me characters, give me yummy, yummy blueprints that I can follow to a tee. I adored it. The game has its issues, with a camera from ten years ago and a non existent quest log, and yet I couldn't stop playing it. And I didn't have to come up with a single creation of my own.
7. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; Human Revolution was something of a surprise to me. Having known nothing of the original PC games, and picking up this weird stealth reboot on a whim, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed it. And that enjoyment remains in the sequel. Kind of.
Mankind Divided is an interesting beast in that it is very much a sequel. True to the spirit and framework of its predecessor in mostly every way. The problem being that predecessor is now 5 years old. And, even though I haven't actively noticed it, games have come on since then. Which isn't to say Mankind Divided is bad. In fact, it's extremely enjoyable. But there's an undeniable sense of age with it, a disconnect in some of the things you do that would have past by unnoticed 5 years ago but now stand out as weird glaring flaws. Look past those though, and the game remains a stellar example of the stealth genre.
8. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; My lack of rhythm has always been a burden. I have next to no timing, which, for a game like Rhythm Heaven, is as bad as lacking bones in your fingers in the average game. This isn't some fairytale story of how Rhythm Heaven showed me my musical soul. I just love the game so damn much I have to put it on the list regardless.
9. Stardew Valley ; I'm still not sure how much I actually like Stardew Valley. There's clearly a lot of heart in it, an adorable, interconnected world with mythos and characters and events. But it also feels a lot like work. And maybe that's the point. Regardless, I kept playing because there was
something there, be it gameplay loops or otherwise. And overall I think its charm and personality won me over.
10. Pokémon Go ; Let's get this out of the way up top: Pokemon Go is a pretty terrible game. Its mechanics are flawed, the tracking system obtuse, the levelling and evolving frustrating. Yet I can't help but feel I was part of a phenomenon that will not be repeated any time soon. On the game's first day I spent a good half hour trying to catch a Venonat outside someone's house. The app crashed repeatedly, the Pokeballs froze, the Venonat jumped from place to place. But it was one of my favourite moments of the year.
Honorable Mentions
x. The Talos Principle ; Another puzzle game! And a mysterious sci-fi room-based one to boot. Yes, we've been here before. But Talos Principle has enough unique mechanics and ideas that I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.
