Magic Mushroom
Member
Why does that matter? People put DOOM in their list because they loved the game last year and many have detailed write-ups of why. How it relates to old games doesn't matter at all.
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GAF Games of the Year 2016 - Voting Thread [Voting closed]
- Thread starter Cheesemeister
- Start date
Why does that matter? People put DOOM in their list because they loved the game last year and many have detailed write-ups of why. How it relates to old games doesn't matter at all.
d00d3n
Member
Of course it matters. Several people are praising the game for the speed of the enemy encounters, the brutality, the focus on positioning and shooting, and even the light-weight story. Superficially, all of these components are essential features of the old school first person shooter genre. So why is DOOM such a consensus hit when those other titles mostly failed to gain critical acclaim? Is there anything novel about the game design in DOOM, or is it all down to subtle aspects of the genre that it slightly improves on?
PensivePen
Member
If we're talking about games like Serious Sam and Painkiller, the first thing that immediately comes to mind that new Doom does much better is enemy AI and the level of threat they pose. It's easy to see this with the game's most basic enemy, the imps, who will frequently move from place to place to throw fireballs at you, climbing all over the terrain, hanging on walls and don't tend to stay still in one place for too long. Unlike a lot of enemies in those games that either stand stoicly in one spot, or move toward the player in an unflinching, mindless fashion.
Also the more immediately obvious thing is the game's massive production values and brand recognition.
The Xtortionist
Member
Things in DOOM that definitely stuck out to me were
-The satisfying glory kill system and how it rewards the player with health for pushing forward constantly
-Character progression with secrets rewarding upgrade points, weapon challenges encouraging various tactics, and rune portals offering Platinum Games-style one-off gimmick fights
-Pattern recognition boss fights with life bars
-Double jump platforming
-How the protagonist and general story are defined
-Just how driving the soundtrack is, and how the music matches the action by pausing during glory kills, etc
-It really looks and runs quite amazing on PS4
Haven't played Serious Sam or Painkiller so idk how unique some of those elements are.
Magic Mushroom
Member
My point was more that many might not even have played those games, I for example haven't (I did play the original though), and that they list it because they thought it was an excellent game in 2016.
But if you want me to compare it to the original: it keeps what many loved about that game, like the strafing, weapons, power-ups, fighting mutiple enemy types at once, and combines it with modern elements like double-jumping in vertical level design, the risk-reward of glory kills and the rune challenges.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
The dirty secret is that it has much more in common with mid 2000s 10 hour action games than serious Sam or Painkiller
It's also a well known franchise, THE greatest and most influential FPS of all time so it gets more shine than bombastorm
The Xtortionist
Member
please be excited for Bombastorm: Full Bomba edition
i'm buying it. one of the all time great FPS campaigns
d00d3n
Member
That's good! Exactly the type of arguments I was fishing for. You are probably right about your point on enemy difficulty, but it still seems like a subtle improvement over past old school first person shooters. The massive production values also differentiate the game and make it seem new in a way, so that is a good point as well.
The two bolded aspects are pretty unique for the genre, I guess (although I am really failing to remember any of Painkiller right now).
d00d3n
Member
Please elaborate on that! Sounds like a really interesting perspective.
1. INSIDE ; It's not often that a game lives up to expectations. This game succeeded and then some. Loved it!
2. The Last Guardian ; We're not very far into the game, but it's wonderful. Can't wait to play all the way through and reassess. Still feels special enough for #2 on my list.
3. The Witness ; What a game. This one took over our lives for a few weeks, as we obsessed day and night over the puzzles. The only game I've ever been willing to involved pen and paper with.
4. Firewatch ; Uniquely gripping.
5. Virginia ; Went Lynchian and pulled it off well enough.
6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Solid and complete.
7. XCOM 2 ; This game is too difficult and overwhelming!! Jesus Christ!! (Really fun at times, though.)
8. Mafia III ; Starts off really, really strong.
9. Ratchet & Clank ; My son and I enjoyed it. Probably not in the Top 3 Ratchet Experiences, though.
10. ReCore ; Surprisingly snappy, fun gameplay.
x. ABZU ; Stunningly gorgeous at times.
x. Broforce ; A lot of fun playing couch co-op.
x. Invisible, Inc. ; Barely scratched the surface. If it's like XCOM 2, but not so brutally difficult, it could be amazing.
x. Steep ; Played the demo beta thing for a bit. Pretty delightful for a guy who always wants to take a ski trip.
x. Table Top Racing: World Tour ; It's no Mario Kart, but I had plenty of fun with it.
x. This War of Mine: The Little Ones ; Gloomy and interesting. Need to play more.
x. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; Barely touched, but I know it'll be great fun!
2. The Last Guardian ; We're not very far into the game, but it's wonderful. Can't wait to play all the way through and reassess. Still feels special enough for #2 on my list.
3. The Witness ; What a game. This one took over our lives for a few weeks, as we obsessed day and night over the puzzles. The only game I've ever been willing to involved pen and paper with.
4. Firewatch ; Uniquely gripping.
5. Virginia ; Went Lynchian and pulled it off well enough.
6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Solid and complete.
7. XCOM 2 ; This game is too difficult and overwhelming!! Jesus Christ!! (Really fun at times, though.)
8. Mafia III ; Starts off really, really strong.
9. Ratchet & Clank ; My son and I enjoyed it. Probably not in the Top 3 Ratchet Experiences, though.
10. ReCore ; Surprisingly snappy, fun gameplay.
x. ABZU ; Stunningly gorgeous at times.
x. Broforce ; A lot of fun playing couch co-op.
x. Invisible, Inc. ; Barely scratched the surface. If it's like XCOM 2, but not so brutally difficult, it could be amazing.
x. Steep ; Played the demo beta thing for a bit. Pretty delightful for a guy who always wants to take a ski trip.
x. Table Top Racing: World Tour ; It's no Mario Kart, but I had plenty of fun with it.
x. This War of Mine: The Little Ones ; Gloomy and interesting. Need to play more.
x. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; Barely touched, but I know it'll be great fun!
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine ; I have yet to finish the main story in this expansion, but I've put as many hours into it as many other full games I've played this year. Toussaint is a wonderful addition to the world of TW3 and drove me to continue exploring in a game I've already played almost 120 hours. Just adding another land mass wouldn't be much of an achievement, but the fact that they manage to make the region and its inhabitants feel unique from the rest of the world put it far above a regular DLC pack in my eyes.
2. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past ; I fully played through Dragon Quest VII for the first time on the PSP using custom firmware to play my ripped PS1 copy. The graphics were ugly and the localization left a lot to be desired, but the simple gameplay and wonderful vignettes managed to make it one of the most entertaining RPGs I had ever played. This remake fixes most of the problems that the original had while keeping what I loved most about it.
3. Stardew Valley ; I am a big Rune Factory and Harvest Moon fan so this game making the list was a no-brainer. This is much more Harvest Moon than Rune Factory, but the limited combat still makes a fun diversion from farming. One of the big issues with Harvest Moon is new iterations ignoring quality of life improvements made by past games. ConcernedApe meanwhile learned from what worked and didn't work in previous farming simulation games and created a game that feels modern while still maintaining the appeal of older games.
4. Titanfall 2 ; I never played the original Titanfall so I have no idea how this game compares to that one, but I enjoyed most of the time I spent in Titanfall 2. I don't play a lot of FPS campaigns, but the gameplay kept me engaged enough to finish this one in a couple days. The multiplayer is fun and rounds are quick enough that I can hop on and play a couple games even when I don't have much time.
5. Obduction ; I originally had The Witness on this list, but when I thought about why I liked it, I swapped it for this. Obduction is an adventure game by Cyan Worlds the creators of the original Myst. It truly feels like a spirtual successor to Myst in every way that counts and being able to play a game like that in 2016 is wonderful.
6. Audioshield ; Hooking the Vive up in my house is a major pain, but Audioshield keeps me coming back to it. The gameplay is simple, but engaging and VR feels like a prefect compliment to music games. As far as I'm concerned any game by Dylan Fitterer is an instant buy.
7. Abzû ; This gets a lot of comparisons to Journey for a reason. It doesn't have quite the same impact as Journey did for me (primarily the lack of multiplayer), but it is a beautiful game to explore.
8. Forza Horizon 3 ; I can't decide if I love or hate racing games, but having a huge open world to drive around in certainly helps my enjoyment. This is the first Forza Horizon game I put any significant time into and it has definitely earned its place on the list of franchises I will be keeping an eye on. There is a big variety of vehicles and events to participate in so you can advance even if you aren't the biggest racing fan.
9. Thumper ; I haven't played a rhythm game quite like this one and I don't know that I would want to play many with this kind of harsh look and sound, but it was a very unique experience in VR and the gameplay was simple and fun while still being challenging.
10. Tom Clancy's The Division ; I enjoy the idea of games where you bring order to chaos over the course of the main story. The Division has a very superficial version of this which along with the base gradually improving throughout the story kept me interested enough to finish the game. I didn't spend much time in the dark zone in the retail release, but my time spent in it in the beta was enjoyable and tense.
Honorable Mentions
x. Firewatch ; Absolutely gorgeous world to explore and I really enjoyed the character interactions. I wasn't much of a fan of where the story ended up going, but I still enjoyed my time with it.
x. The Witness ; My interest in this was mainly driven by the comparisons to Myst and I did enjoy exploring the island and trying to figure out what had happened. That said, while I did enjoy solving a lot of the puzzles, I eventually grew tired of the particular style used and dropped the game. That and the lack of an actual narrative dropped it from my list.
2. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past ; I fully played through Dragon Quest VII for the first time on the PSP using custom firmware to play my ripped PS1 copy. The graphics were ugly and the localization left a lot to be desired, but the simple gameplay and wonderful vignettes managed to make it one of the most entertaining RPGs I had ever played. This remake fixes most of the problems that the original had while keeping what I loved most about it.
3. Stardew Valley ; I am a big Rune Factory and Harvest Moon fan so this game making the list was a no-brainer. This is much more Harvest Moon than Rune Factory, but the limited combat still makes a fun diversion from farming. One of the big issues with Harvest Moon is new iterations ignoring quality of life improvements made by past games. ConcernedApe meanwhile learned from what worked and didn't work in previous farming simulation games and created a game that feels modern while still maintaining the appeal of older games.
4. Titanfall 2 ; I never played the original Titanfall so I have no idea how this game compares to that one, but I enjoyed most of the time I spent in Titanfall 2. I don't play a lot of FPS campaigns, but the gameplay kept me engaged enough to finish this one in a couple days. The multiplayer is fun and rounds are quick enough that I can hop on and play a couple games even when I don't have much time.
5. Obduction ; I originally had The Witness on this list, but when I thought about why I liked it, I swapped it for this. Obduction is an adventure game by Cyan Worlds the creators of the original Myst. It truly feels like a spirtual successor to Myst in every way that counts and being able to play a game like that in 2016 is wonderful.
6. Audioshield ; Hooking the Vive up in my house is a major pain, but Audioshield keeps me coming back to it. The gameplay is simple, but engaging and VR feels like a prefect compliment to music games. As far as I'm concerned any game by Dylan Fitterer is an instant buy.
7. Abzû ; This gets a lot of comparisons to Journey for a reason. It doesn't have quite the same impact as Journey did for me (primarily the lack of multiplayer), but it is a beautiful game to explore.
8. Forza Horizon 3 ; I can't decide if I love or hate racing games, but having a huge open world to drive around in certainly helps my enjoyment. This is the first Forza Horizon game I put any significant time into and it has definitely earned its place on the list of franchises I will be keeping an eye on. There is a big variety of vehicles and events to participate in so you can advance even if you aren't the biggest racing fan.
9. Thumper ; I haven't played a rhythm game quite like this one and I don't know that I would want to play many with this kind of harsh look and sound, but it was a very unique experience in VR and the gameplay was simple and fun while still being challenging.
10. Tom Clancy's The Division ; I enjoy the idea of games where you bring order to chaos over the course of the main story. The Division has a very superficial version of this which along with the base gradually improving throughout the story kept me interested enough to finish the game. I didn't spend much time in the dark zone in the retail release, but my time spent in it in the beta was enjoyable and tense.
Honorable Mentions
x. Firewatch ; Absolutely gorgeous world to explore and I really enjoyed the character interactions. I wasn't much of a fan of where the story ended up going, but I still enjoyed my time with it.
x. The Witness ; My interest in this was mainly driven by the comparisons to Myst and I did enjoy exploring the island and trying to figure out what had happened. That said, while I did enjoy solving a lot of the puzzles, I eventually grew tired of the particular style used and dropped the game. That and the lack of an actual narrative dropped it from my list.
I keep wanting to refine and review this list but I just got horribly sick and honestly don't have the energy. So here's my awful text dump for everyone to read. I apologize for typos, recurring words, and an obsessive overuse of commas.
10. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; You know what Rhythm Heaven Megamix is? It's the absolute best Rhythm Heaven game released yet. It's the kind of game I love having digitally on my 3DS because I just want to randomly load up a level and have fun with it every now and then. Not only is it a compilation of a bunch of the best games from this series, it fixes the awful touch controls from the DS entry (the ”swipe" move was so inconsistent it hurt), shows you on the bottom screen if you're pressing buttons early or late, allows quick restarting of a song (a needed quality of life improvement), and also has an incredibly silly and entertaining story thrown in (no really, it's duuuuuuumb and I love it). The only bummer is that this game starts really slow for veterans of the series (the first 20 or so missions are an actual easy mode for onboarding new players) and is a ”greatest hits" style game, but that turns out to make this a wonderful starting point for new players. Also, the new games it does throw at your are wonderful. People all seem to love LumBEARjack, however I'm a fan of Blue Bear and the fact I had a damn emotional reaction to a 2 minute minigame. I was also really, really happy it had a bunch of the Rhythm Tengoku (GBA) minigames in it I had never played before (I had ”Hey baby/ how's it going?" from Karate Man Returns stuck in my head for weeks - ”This beat/ Is non/ stop."). If you like rhythm games and have never given this series a shot, there is no better place to jump in.
9. Dark Souls III ; Dark Souls 3 improves on almost everything that made Dark Souls 2 feel so stale and forgettable (minus an awesome dual wield cestus). The level designs are superb, the hitboxes and combat are better, the bosses are more exciting, and the distinct zones are more memorable. This game is Dark Souls through and through from the combat, to the lore, to the creepy as hell locales. The only area where Dark Souls 3 falls short is in just how familiar everything feels, but I think this is just a ”me problem" (franchise fatigue). The beauty of Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne was just how alien and different each world feels, and how much fun it was to unravel the mystery of just what the hell was going on, who characters were, and if they were friend or foe. While I knew going in that this game was going to be a love letter to the series, seeing so many old faces, locations, and enemies was kind of jarring and took away some of the wonder these gaming worlds always bring. I still had a blast doing all my normal Dark Souls stuff (slowly exploring, worrying about traps, figuring out bosses, pumping fists in the air when killing them, etc..) but I'm starting to get worried, maybe I'm getting sick of ....Souls games? Man, what a sad thought.
8. Rez Infinite ; (I did not play in VR) You all know Rez, so let's talk Area X. Actually, let's do what the game does and build up to Area X. In order to reach Area X you have to beat the original 5 levels of Rez, which is an amazingly calculated move on the part of the developers. You spend around 45-60 minutes playing a 15 year old Dreamcast game and constantly thinking ”man, this game still totally works." In that 30 minutes, you slowly start turning the music up each level because it's just getting better. You start to fiddle with the game and adjust your shots to affect the music differently. You laugh at little touches (”Fear... is the... mind......killer") and smile every time they happen. You get into a groove and get used to the old polygonal graphics. When you see the giant running man boss you think ”Man, how does that still hold up? That's cool as hell.". Then, after beating the original game, you open Area X, and your goddamn mind is blown. I honestly had my mouth open in disbelief for the first 5 minutes of Area X. The fact that I had just come from 15 year old polygons only made what I was looking at more... insane. Suddenly, you can....move around a 3D space? Things explode into multicolored dust clouds? That...thing...in the center of Area X...is that a... oh my.....holy crap that looks spectacular. Area X reinforces that Rez still totally works as a game in 2016 and I hope to god it sold enough to make a full sequel. Up to this point, Rez is the only game that has had me seriously consider buying a VR headset and it's all because of Area X. ...crap, now that I've typed that all out I have Area 5's music stuck in my head again. And 4. And 3. And 2. And 1. And X. (Yesssssss).
7. Street Fighter V ; I have never been good at Street Fighter games but that hasn't stopped me from buying and enjoying the hell out of them. Street Fighter V is an awesome fighting game that suffers from the ”odd number curse" that seems to plague the Street Fighter series. SF1 had two awful pressure sensitive buttons (and is clunky to play), SFIII had an initial cast full of freaks no one cared about, and now SFV has had an awful launch that it just can't seem to put behind it. Much like SFIII though, the ”fighting" in this game is just spectacular and a hell of a lot of fun to play online or with people you know in real life. If you come only for the single player options you're going to be disappointed (the story is ”meh", there is no true Arcade Mode, and survival may be the worst game mode ever put into a video game), but if you're in it for the characters, systems, and competition you can't find a better game from this year. I loved this game so much I actually attended EVO for the first time and even though I didn't touch a single controller I had the damn time of my life. I really hope they keep supporting this game (add a freaking Arcade Mode, you dorks! It can only bring more people in!) and the announcement that Akuma would be joined by ”5 all new fighters to the SF universe" is absolutely the most exciting announcement they could make. Can't wait for more!
6. Dragon Quest Builders ; How do you get an old idiot like me into something like Minecraft, a game I've tried to play countless times and just kept bouncing off of? You make it more straightforward with defined quests, add a base leveling mechanic around discovering room layouts, and then wrap it all up in a familiar cartoony setting. It's a super simple game loop: You start by planting your flag and getting your first NPC, then they give you little tasks to do (build a bedroom, build a kitchen, make some weapons, etc...) until your base levels up and more NPCs arrive to give more quests. This all continues until you beat the boss of the chapter, open a portal to a new land, and then start all over from square one because nothing survives the teleportation. While that last part (losing everything) ended up bumming a lot of people out I actually really enjoyed it. The best part of the game is the struggle to get a foothold in a new area, dealing with initial problems like lack of food, proper defenses, or NPCs to help, and then finally getting so powerful that you're ready to take on the boss and ”save the land". I particularly love how much this game leans on the old Dragon Warrior 1 mythos, and was actually shocked this is a sort of alternate universe where the hero from that game took the bad ending. It's a ton of fun to see all of those old locations, monsters, and even silly speech quirks in a game released in 2016. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously and greatly benefits from it (props to the 3rd chapter's Ultimate Weapon, and my favorite item that just changes the level music to NES music because why not?). The only gripes against this game are it's questionable combat (think 3D Dot Game Heroes-ish), lack of quest tracking (you can forget what you're doing unless you talk to the specific NPC who gave you the task), and there's really no multiplayer. I can't wait for them to announce a sequel to this though, as I think each of those things could be fixed and/or improved upon if they keep building on this base (hyuck hyuck). A true multiplayer mode where two people could play through a story would be a hell of a lot of fun. Even if you don't like ”building" games or have never played a Dragon Quest you should give the Demo a try. You'll know pretty quickly if you want to go buy it because it gets it's hooks into you early.
5. Uncharted 4 ; As someone who always enjoyed these games for the story and characters, I can say without a doubt that Uncharted 4 is the best in the series so far. It's a wonderful adventure that's fun to play through. It's got better battle arenas you can tackle in multiple ways (stop-and-pop and/or stealth mechanics). It's got better character moments, development, and interactions. It's got (less but) more impressive set-pieces that make you feel like you're playing a fun new serial-esq Indiana Jones style adventure. It's also got none of the major story problems that I thought Uncharted 3 had that ended up really souring my opinion of that game, or any of the little things Uncharted 2 had that irk me a little (mediocre villain, blue hulks). Much like Uncharted 2, Uncharted 4 does a very good job of making the game seem like a coherent adventure and not just throwing in levels to show off tech (gosh I was disappointed by 3). UC 4 gives us a villain in Rafe that is a wonderful asshole you want to see lose, a great ”bad guy henchman" in Nadine that I honestly can't wait to see them flesh out more with Chloe, and an OK brother to Nathan in Sam (he's wonderfully acted, I just don't know that I like him so much....but maybe that's the point?). Plus, Victor ”goddamn" Sullivan is still the best character in this series and is wonderfully represented. I initially bounced off the multiplayer but heard they finally patched co-op missions into the game. I really need to go back and check that out.
4. The Last Guardian ; This game feels like an Ueda game through and through and I love it for that. The art, character design, animations, bad camera, questionable frame rate, and wonky controls are all there, as is the slightly ambiguous story and the unique way Ueda tries to create specific emotions in the player. I really loved how much this game made me want to role play as the boy and his giant pet running around old dilapidated ruins. Trico's animations and mannerisms are so wonderful that I had no problem thinking of him as a big pet instead of just a unwieldy moving AI platform. Trico has presence. He seems real. I found myself constantly talking to him and not feeling like a total idiot while doing so. ”C'mon boy, we can make that jump", ”Trico! Help!", ”Awww, it's gonna be okay buddy. No need to be scared", ”Oh hell no, you throw another spear at Trico and you're DEAD!", ”Trico, there is no way you're going to make that jump. Wait, Trico wai....OH GOD...hahahahah, you did it boy!". I found myself creating rules for him that I assumed a real pet would follow like making sure he was looking at me when I issued commands or giving him a few seconds to figure out what the hell I was saying (I highly doubted he spoke the my [the boy's] language). My favorite moment in this entire game, and I'm not kidding when I say this, is when I discovered that Trico will lean his head down towards you and you can hit Circle to pet him.... and he'll nuzzle you. When that happened, the boy and I both had the same exact reaction, giggling while saying ”aww, To-ri-ko!". One thing is for sure about this game, you have to play it and see if you love it or hate it. Don't read other people's opinions and blindly adopt them as your own, don't watch youtube clips of Trico working horribly/perfectly and form an opinion, don't only watch a twitch stream or a full ”Let's Play" of it. The magic is in the interaction with Trico and the bond you can form with him, and by watching instead of doing you're only cheating yourself out of one of the most magical games of the year (and arguably the entire point of this game in the first place). Unless of course you hate it, and then that's totally okay too! At least you saw for yourself if this is your kind of game.
3. Overwatch ; I've always said they don't need to make anymore class based shooters because Team Fortress 2 exists. Holy crapola was I wrong. Overwatch does what no multiplayer game has done for me since TF2 did: make me just laugh and have a good time while almost never getting me angry (I don't play the competitive mode). Don't get me wrong, there are times when I get miffed, but it's so outweighed by the amount of time I'm amused by the game it's almost non-existent. For every time I get mad when a Mei or McCree take control of my character away from me (stupid freezing and stuns), I laugh 10 times at the characters, at their interactions with each other (”Join me! IN GLORY!"), at crazy neat hero combinations of supers, at the silly and entertaining costumes that everyone is wearing , at the intense push we either just stopped or successfully completed against an enemy point, at finally killing that STUPID Mei, at using my super at the best time (4 person rez! Team kill!), at someone else perfectly countering my super, and at my teammates over voice chat (<3 ya GAF). I've always been much more of a team player than a lone wolf and there is nothing better in this game than healing, shielding, speed boosting, or support-flanking to help your team. Blizzard did what they do best again: take a concept that someone else has done, refine it, add some mechanics and wrinkles, make sure it's fun to play, and then polish and balance the everliving hell out of it. I've never been happier to have another TF2-esq shooter in my life. Hopefully this game lasts me 10 years like the last one did.
2. The Witness ; I was sitting in my basement playing the Witness with headphones on, surrounded by sheets of graph paper and cutouts of tetris pieces, stumped by a set of particularly nasty line puzzles. The first puzzle had been deceptively easy. The second was also easy, but... something strange happened. The third... oh boy, the third was when it clicked. ”Oh hell, I have to do that?...that's...awesome." I get puzzles 3 and 4 done, but get stuck on the 5th. ”Maybe....no...hell. What if... SHIT. Bah. Damm. wait....wait. Crap." and then silence as I nail the solution. Silent fistpump. I'm the smartest man in the world. Time for puzzle si...ohfuck. "Christ, that's what I have to do?" This is when I receive a text message from my wife, who is upstairs watching TV: ”You okay down there?" At this moment, I realize that I had boosted the volume of my headphones at one point to hear the game better, had never reset the volume to a normal level, and the elevated sound levels had caused me to just talk out loud at my normal voice. For the last hour my wife had heard me loudly muttering numbers, shapes, colors, and any observations to myself I found important. She thought I was going insane. Why do I like the witness so much? Because it's a game about line puzzles, which sounds like the simplest thing in the world, except as you play you slowly descend into a notebook scribbling, tetris piece cutting, environment observing, muttering madness that will have loved ones question your sanity. Plus, bonus points for all that madness actually paying off, because solving ”The Challenge" is one of the most rewarding things I've done in a game. My saved video of completing it is hilarious because I ”dance" uncontrollably after beating it by what I assume is less than a second remaining.
1. Doom ; (I played on ”Ultra Violence", which is ”hard" difficulty). The first level was where I thought ”You know what, this game is okay. It's fast and the shotgun feels right." The second level was where I thought ”Woah, this in-game map is super useful, the secrets are great (a new weapon....in a totally missable secret?), this combat is getting fun, and it's just so fast." In the third level, The Foundry, I activated the first Gore Nest (spawns enemies you have to kill in order to advance) and stopped thinking. I slipped into bliss. My fingers started moving on their own. The music kicked in and I was tearing through a catwalk lined room overlooking lava, dodging around boxes, shotgunning Imps, glory killing them to get health, chainsawing a soldier in half to get ammo, shotgun-grenading demons across the map to stagger them and get breathing room, and the whole time I'm doing this I'm running. There's no safe spot. There's no stopping to catch a breath. Just haul ass and kill as much as possible as fast as possible as loud as possible. Kill, dodge, glory kill, switch weapons, kill, run, clamber, chainsaw, run, run, RUN. I finally kill the last Hell Knight, a spectacular shotgun grenade from above while simultaneously dropping down to crush it's head with my boot (glory kill), I exhale, I pause the game, and then (I'm not kidding) I lean back in my chair and flail my legs around in the air yelling ”THIS GAME IS F***ING AWESOME". I mean, damn. The movement speed coupled with the push/pull of needing ammo and health from enemies is something I haven't seen since Warhammer 40k: Space Marine and it still works wonderfully here [I really want another 40k Space Marine game
]. It causes you to constantly move forward and engage your enemies instead of just backpedaling while spraying bullets the entire time. You're the aggressor instead of the chased. You're the monster, ripping and tearing. When you add in all the weapon mods and rune-boosters suddenly you're given the ability to tweak combat more towards what you like (glory kills, sub-weapons, air-control, etc...). What if you don't like the exploration part or story? Blow through the game in Arcade Mode where you're just given fully leveled weapons + runes and play this thing like a 1990's game. Everyone should give this game a try. If you grew up on the old stuff, you owe it to yourself to check this out. If you only ever played games with regenerating health, cover, and heavy scripting you need to play this game if only to see what FPS games used to play like. If you've never played a FPS, you need to play this game just to experience pure fun (play on easy, it's probably still great!). This was hands down the most fun I've had all year with little to no baggage attached (the multiplayer sucks but this ain't Quake, son). Make another Doom you glorious bastards, then please make a proper Quake 1 sequel. → Note: the multiplayer is really disappointing, but Snap Map seems like it could be really, really awesome in future games. It's definitely the best map creation tool I've seen on consoles, I just wish it was easier and quicker to search and hop in/out of them. If you pick a stinker of a level it takes around 2-4 minutes to figure it out just due to loading times. Plus, the damn suspend/resume bug on PS4 drove me bonkers. If you play on a PS4 be sure to do full shut downs if you even load the game once. Oh, Did I mention the music though?
Honorable Mentions:
x. Final Fantasy XV ; The main positive takeaway from my 60 hours with this game is that it actually gives me hope for the future of the Final Fantasy series, which is the exact opposite reaction I got from playing XIII. It's got a world I enjoyed that's much more grounded, has characters that I didn't want to shut up, be murdered, or have a major wardrobe change (aside from the gas station attendant), and has so much promise in its story. It also helps that it looks gorgeous and is actually a lot of fun to play. I'm still a bigger fan of turn based combat systems, but the action system in this game is really fun once you get the hang of it. The real bummer is that almost everything else is executed very, very mediocrely. There's a big open world with fun little outposts and towns...but all the quests are the most simple ”kill X" or ”run to [place] and find 5 Y" affairs circa 2004 MMO design. There are a bunch of fun characters that are done a disservice by pretty abysmal storytelling (I can think of two what I assume were supposed to be major moments that just...happened...with little to no emotion attached). There's an amazing whole end scenario that is completely, absolutely blown (I seriously gasped when it was revealed, got super duper pumped, and then was really bummed 5 minutes later when it turned out to be a very small level). Realistically, I played 60 hours of this game because it was the perfect game to play while listening to Game of the Year Podcasts and grinding everything out. I feel like I'm being too harsh on it, but I really did have a good time while playing it.
.
x. Picross 3D Round 2 ; You know what's wonderful? Finally having more Picross 3D to play. You know what's even better? The team at HAL Laboratory putting in not only a bunch of great quality of life changes (”bomb" button to remove all 0 rows, ”hint" button that points you to rows/columns you should look closer at, etc..) but also adding a totally game changing mechanic: colors (red and blue). At first I thought it was just going to make the puzzles needlessly complicated, but after about 10 of them I started to realize how much more fun it made puzzling out what blocks you should keep and which you should break. This is the perfect pick-up-and-play game where you can do as many or as few of the puzzles whenever you want, and each one scratches that perfect ”Ah-ha" itch.
x. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered ; What's that? The best strategy JRPG released in the last 10 years is on a PS4 with all of the DLC and it looks gorgeous? Why yes, I'll have that again thank you.
X. Let it Die ; This game came out of nowhere and ended up taking time away from The Last Guardian (I started playing it and got addicted right in the middle of my TLG session). I only ever made it to floor ~18, and I don't know that I'm really going to play it any further, but my 20 or so hours with this game was a lot of fun.
Whew, now that that's over I can read everyone else's lists!
10. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; You know what Rhythm Heaven Megamix is? It's the absolute best Rhythm Heaven game released yet. It's the kind of game I love having digitally on my 3DS because I just want to randomly load up a level and have fun with it every now and then. Not only is it a compilation of a bunch of the best games from this series, it fixes the awful touch controls from the DS entry (the ”swipe" move was so inconsistent it hurt), shows you on the bottom screen if you're pressing buttons early or late, allows quick restarting of a song (a needed quality of life improvement), and also has an incredibly silly and entertaining story thrown in (no really, it's duuuuuuumb and I love it). The only bummer is that this game starts really slow for veterans of the series (the first 20 or so missions are an actual easy mode for onboarding new players) and is a ”greatest hits" style game, but that turns out to make this a wonderful starting point for new players. Also, the new games it does throw at your are wonderful. People all seem to love LumBEARjack, however I'm a fan of Blue Bear and the fact I had a damn emotional reaction to a 2 minute minigame. I was also really, really happy it had a bunch of the Rhythm Tengoku (GBA) minigames in it I had never played before (I had ”Hey baby/ how's it going?" from Karate Man Returns stuck in my head for weeks - ”This beat/ Is non/ stop."). If you like rhythm games and have never given this series a shot, there is no better place to jump in.
9. Dark Souls III ; Dark Souls 3 improves on almost everything that made Dark Souls 2 feel so stale and forgettable (minus an awesome dual wield cestus). The level designs are superb, the hitboxes and combat are better, the bosses are more exciting, and the distinct zones are more memorable. This game is Dark Souls through and through from the combat, to the lore, to the creepy as hell locales. The only area where Dark Souls 3 falls short is in just how familiar everything feels, but I think this is just a ”me problem" (franchise fatigue). The beauty of Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Bloodborne was just how alien and different each world feels, and how much fun it was to unravel the mystery of just what the hell was going on, who characters were, and if they were friend or foe. While I knew going in that this game was going to be a love letter to the series, seeing so many old faces, locations, and enemies was kind of jarring and took away some of the wonder these gaming worlds always bring. I still had a blast doing all my normal Dark Souls stuff (slowly exploring, worrying about traps, figuring out bosses, pumping fists in the air when killing them, etc..) but I'm starting to get worried, maybe I'm getting sick of ....Souls games? Man, what a sad thought.
8. Rez Infinite ; (I did not play in VR) You all know Rez, so let's talk Area X. Actually, let's do what the game does and build up to Area X. In order to reach Area X you have to beat the original 5 levels of Rez, which is an amazingly calculated move on the part of the developers. You spend around 45-60 minutes playing a 15 year old Dreamcast game and constantly thinking ”man, this game still totally works." In that 30 minutes, you slowly start turning the music up each level because it's just getting better. You start to fiddle with the game and adjust your shots to affect the music differently. You laugh at little touches (”Fear... is the... mind......killer") and smile every time they happen. You get into a groove and get used to the old polygonal graphics. When you see the giant running man boss you think ”Man, how does that still hold up? That's cool as hell.". Then, after beating the original game, you open Area X, and your goddamn mind is blown. I honestly had my mouth open in disbelief for the first 5 minutes of Area X. The fact that I had just come from 15 year old polygons only made what I was looking at more... insane. Suddenly, you can....move around a 3D space? Things explode into multicolored dust clouds? That...thing...in the center of Area X...is that a... oh my.....holy crap that looks spectacular. Area X reinforces that Rez still totally works as a game in 2016 and I hope to god it sold enough to make a full sequel. Up to this point, Rez is the only game that has had me seriously consider buying a VR headset and it's all because of Area X. ...crap, now that I've typed that all out I have Area 5's music stuck in my head again. And 4. And 3. And 2. And 1. And X. (Yesssssss).
7. Street Fighter V ; I have never been good at Street Fighter games but that hasn't stopped me from buying and enjoying the hell out of them. Street Fighter V is an awesome fighting game that suffers from the ”odd number curse" that seems to plague the Street Fighter series. SF1 had two awful pressure sensitive buttons (and is clunky to play), SFIII had an initial cast full of freaks no one cared about, and now SFV has had an awful launch that it just can't seem to put behind it. Much like SFIII though, the ”fighting" in this game is just spectacular and a hell of a lot of fun to play online or with people you know in real life. If you come only for the single player options you're going to be disappointed (the story is ”meh", there is no true Arcade Mode, and survival may be the worst game mode ever put into a video game), but if you're in it for the characters, systems, and competition you can't find a better game from this year. I loved this game so much I actually attended EVO for the first time and even though I didn't touch a single controller I had the damn time of my life. I really hope they keep supporting this game (add a freaking Arcade Mode, you dorks! It can only bring more people in!) and the announcement that Akuma would be joined by ”5 all new fighters to the SF universe" is absolutely the most exciting announcement they could make. Can't wait for more!
6. Dragon Quest Builders ; How do you get an old idiot like me into something like Minecraft, a game I've tried to play countless times and just kept bouncing off of? You make it more straightforward with defined quests, add a base leveling mechanic around discovering room layouts, and then wrap it all up in a familiar cartoony setting. It's a super simple game loop: You start by planting your flag and getting your first NPC, then they give you little tasks to do (build a bedroom, build a kitchen, make some weapons, etc...) until your base levels up and more NPCs arrive to give more quests. This all continues until you beat the boss of the chapter, open a portal to a new land, and then start all over from square one because nothing survives the teleportation. While that last part (losing everything) ended up bumming a lot of people out I actually really enjoyed it. The best part of the game is the struggle to get a foothold in a new area, dealing with initial problems like lack of food, proper defenses, or NPCs to help, and then finally getting so powerful that you're ready to take on the boss and ”save the land". I particularly love how much this game leans on the old Dragon Warrior 1 mythos, and was actually shocked this is a sort of alternate universe where the hero from that game took the bad ending. It's a ton of fun to see all of those old locations, monsters, and even silly speech quirks in a game released in 2016. It's a game that doesn't take itself too seriously and greatly benefits from it (props to the 3rd chapter's Ultimate Weapon, and my favorite item that just changes the level music to NES music because why not?). The only gripes against this game are it's questionable combat (think 3D Dot Game Heroes-ish), lack of quest tracking (you can forget what you're doing unless you talk to the specific NPC who gave you the task), and there's really no multiplayer. I can't wait for them to announce a sequel to this though, as I think each of those things could be fixed and/or improved upon if they keep building on this base (hyuck hyuck). A true multiplayer mode where two people could play through a story would be a hell of a lot of fun. Even if you don't like ”building" games or have never played a Dragon Quest you should give the Demo a try. You'll know pretty quickly if you want to go buy it because it gets it's hooks into you early.
5. Uncharted 4 ; As someone who always enjoyed these games for the story and characters, I can say without a doubt that Uncharted 4 is the best in the series so far. It's a wonderful adventure that's fun to play through. It's got better battle arenas you can tackle in multiple ways (stop-and-pop and/or stealth mechanics). It's got better character moments, development, and interactions. It's got (less but) more impressive set-pieces that make you feel like you're playing a fun new serial-esq Indiana Jones style adventure. It's also got none of the major story problems that I thought Uncharted 3 had that ended up really souring my opinion of that game, or any of the little things Uncharted 2 had that irk me a little (mediocre villain, blue hulks). Much like Uncharted 2, Uncharted 4 does a very good job of making the game seem like a coherent adventure and not just throwing in levels to show off tech (gosh I was disappointed by 3). UC 4 gives us a villain in Rafe that is a wonderful asshole you want to see lose, a great ”bad guy henchman" in Nadine that I honestly can't wait to see them flesh out more with Chloe, and an OK brother to Nathan in Sam (he's wonderfully acted, I just don't know that I like him so much....but maybe that's the point?). Plus, Victor ”goddamn" Sullivan is still the best character in this series and is wonderfully represented. I initially bounced off the multiplayer but heard they finally patched co-op missions into the game. I really need to go back and check that out.
4. The Last Guardian ; This game feels like an Ueda game through and through and I love it for that. The art, character design, animations, bad camera, questionable frame rate, and wonky controls are all there, as is the slightly ambiguous story and the unique way Ueda tries to create specific emotions in the player. I really loved how much this game made me want to role play as the boy and his giant pet running around old dilapidated ruins. Trico's animations and mannerisms are so wonderful that I had no problem thinking of him as a big pet instead of just a unwieldy moving AI platform. Trico has presence. He seems real. I found myself constantly talking to him and not feeling like a total idiot while doing so. ”C'mon boy, we can make that jump", ”Trico! Help!", ”Awww, it's gonna be okay buddy. No need to be scared", ”Oh hell no, you throw another spear at Trico and you're DEAD!", ”Trico, there is no way you're going to make that jump. Wait, Trico wai....OH GOD...hahahahah, you did it boy!". I found myself creating rules for him that I assumed a real pet would follow like making sure he was looking at me when I issued commands or giving him a few seconds to figure out what the hell I was saying (I highly doubted he spoke the my [the boy's] language). My favorite moment in this entire game, and I'm not kidding when I say this, is when I discovered that Trico will lean his head down towards you and you can hit Circle to pet him.... and he'll nuzzle you. When that happened, the boy and I both had the same exact reaction, giggling while saying ”aww, To-ri-ko!". One thing is for sure about this game, you have to play it and see if you love it or hate it. Don't read other people's opinions and blindly adopt them as your own, don't watch youtube clips of Trico working horribly/perfectly and form an opinion, don't only watch a twitch stream or a full ”Let's Play" of it. The magic is in the interaction with Trico and the bond you can form with him, and by watching instead of doing you're only cheating yourself out of one of the most magical games of the year (and arguably the entire point of this game in the first place). Unless of course you hate it, and then that's totally okay too! At least you saw for yourself if this is your kind of game.
3. Overwatch ; I've always said they don't need to make anymore class based shooters because Team Fortress 2 exists. Holy crapola was I wrong. Overwatch does what no multiplayer game has done for me since TF2 did: make me just laugh and have a good time while almost never getting me angry (I don't play the competitive mode). Don't get me wrong, there are times when I get miffed, but it's so outweighed by the amount of time I'm amused by the game it's almost non-existent. For every time I get mad when a Mei or McCree take control of my character away from me (stupid freezing and stuns), I laugh 10 times at the characters, at their interactions with each other (”Join me! IN GLORY!"), at crazy neat hero combinations of supers, at the silly and entertaining costumes that everyone is wearing , at the intense push we either just stopped or successfully completed against an enemy point, at finally killing that STUPID Mei, at using my super at the best time (4 person rez! Team kill!), at someone else perfectly countering my super, and at my teammates over voice chat (<3 ya GAF). I've always been much more of a team player than a lone wolf and there is nothing better in this game than healing, shielding, speed boosting, or support-flanking to help your team. Blizzard did what they do best again: take a concept that someone else has done, refine it, add some mechanics and wrinkles, make sure it's fun to play, and then polish and balance the everliving hell out of it. I've never been happier to have another TF2-esq shooter in my life. Hopefully this game lasts me 10 years like the last one did.
2. The Witness ; I was sitting in my basement playing the Witness with headphones on, surrounded by sheets of graph paper and cutouts of tetris pieces, stumped by a set of particularly nasty line puzzles. The first puzzle had been deceptively easy. The second was also easy, but... something strange happened. The third... oh boy, the third was when it clicked. ”Oh hell, I have to do that?...that's...awesome." I get puzzles 3 and 4 done, but get stuck on the 5th. ”Maybe....no...hell. What if... SHIT. Bah. Damm. wait....wait. Crap." and then silence as I nail the solution. Silent fistpump. I'm the smartest man in the world. Time for puzzle si...ohfuck. "Christ, that's what I have to do?" This is when I receive a text message from my wife, who is upstairs watching TV: ”You okay down there?" At this moment, I realize that I had boosted the volume of my headphones at one point to hear the game better, had never reset the volume to a normal level, and the elevated sound levels had caused me to just talk out loud at my normal voice. For the last hour my wife had heard me loudly muttering numbers, shapes, colors, and any observations to myself I found important. She thought I was going insane. Why do I like the witness so much? Because it's a game about line puzzles, which sounds like the simplest thing in the world, except as you play you slowly descend into a notebook scribbling, tetris piece cutting, environment observing, muttering madness that will have loved ones question your sanity. Plus, bonus points for all that madness actually paying off, because solving ”The Challenge" is one of the most rewarding things I've done in a game. My saved video of completing it is hilarious because I ”dance" uncontrollably after beating it by what I assume is less than a second remaining.
1. Doom ; (I played on ”Ultra Violence", which is ”hard" difficulty). The first level was where I thought ”You know what, this game is okay. It's fast and the shotgun feels right." The second level was where I thought ”Woah, this in-game map is super useful, the secrets are great (a new weapon....in a totally missable secret?), this combat is getting fun, and it's just so fast." In the third level, The Foundry, I activated the first Gore Nest (spawns enemies you have to kill in order to advance) and stopped thinking. I slipped into bliss. My fingers started moving on their own. The music kicked in and I was tearing through a catwalk lined room overlooking lava, dodging around boxes, shotgunning Imps, glory killing them to get health, chainsawing a soldier in half to get ammo, shotgun-grenading demons across the map to stagger them and get breathing room, and the whole time I'm doing this I'm running. There's no safe spot. There's no stopping to catch a breath. Just haul ass and kill as much as possible as fast as possible as loud as possible. Kill, dodge, glory kill, switch weapons, kill, run, clamber, chainsaw, run, run, RUN. I finally kill the last Hell Knight, a spectacular shotgun grenade from above while simultaneously dropping down to crush it's head with my boot (glory kill), I exhale, I pause the game, and then (I'm not kidding) I lean back in my chair and flail my legs around in the air yelling ”THIS GAME IS F***ING AWESOME". I mean, damn. The movement speed coupled with the push/pull of needing ammo and health from enemies is something I haven't seen since Warhammer 40k: Space Marine and it still works wonderfully here [I really want another 40k Space Marine game
]. It causes you to constantly move forward and engage your enemies instead of just backpedaling while spraying bullets the entire time. You're the aggressor instead of the chased. You're the monster, ripping and tearing. When you add in all the weapon mods and rune-boosters suddenly you're given the ability to tweak combat more towards what you like (glory kills, sub-weapons, air-control, etc...). What if you don't like the exploration part or story? Blow through the game in Arcade Mode where you're just given fully leveled weapons + runes and play this thing like a 1990's game. Everyone should give this game a try. If you grew up on the old stuff, you owe it to yourself to check this out. If you only ever played games with regenerating health, cover, and heavy scripting you need to play this game if only to see what FPS games used to play like. If you've never played a FPS, you need to play this game just to experience pure fun (play on easy, it's probably still great!). This was hands down the most fun I've had all year with little to no baggage attached (the multiplayer sucks but this ain't Quake, son). Make another Doom you glorious bastards, then please make a proper Quake 1 sequel. → Note: the multiplayer is really disappointing, but Snap Map seems like it could be really, really awesome in future games. It's definitely the best map creation tool I've seen on consoles, I just wish it was easier and quicker to search and hop in/out of them. If you pick a stinker of a level it takes around 2-4 minutes to figure it out just due to loading times. Plus, the damn suspend/resume bug on PS4 drove me bonkers. If you play on a PS4 be sure to do full shut downs if you even load the game once. Oh, Did I mention the music though?Honorable Mentions:
x. Final Fantasy XV ; The main positive takeaway from my 60 hours with this game is that it actually gives me hope for the future of the Final Fantasy series, which is the exact opposite reaction I got from playing XIII. It's got a world I enjoyed that's much more grounded, has characters that I didn't want to shut up, be murdered, or have a major wardrobe change (aside from the gas station attendant), and has so much promise in its story. It also helps that it looks gorgeous and is actually a lot of fun to play. I'm still a bigger fan of turn based combat systems, but the action system in this game is really fun once you get the hang of it. The real bummer is that almost everything else is executed very, very mediocrely. There's a big open world with fun little outposts and towns...but all the quests are the most simple ”kill X" or ”run to [place] and find 5 Y" affairs circa 2004 MMO design. There are a bunch of fun characters that are done a disservice by pretty abysmal storytelling (I can think of two what I assume were supposed to be major moments that just...happened...with little to no emotion attached). There's an amazing whole end scenario that is completely, absolutely blown (I seriously gasped when it was revealed, got super duper pumped, and then was really bummed 5 minutes later when it turned out to be a very small level). Realistically, I played 60 hours of this game because it was the perfect game to play while listening to Game of the Year Podcasts and grinding everything out. I feel like I'm being too harsh on it, but I really did have a good time while playing it.
Also, I think I'm crazy because I actually really liked chapter 13 and I've read almost nothing but disdain for it on GAF. (I played the post-patch version with less enemies)
x. Picross 3D Round 2 ; You know what's wonderful? Finally having more Picross 3D to play. You know what's even better? The team at HAL Laboratory putting in not only a bunch of great quality of life changes (”bomb" button to remove all 0 rows, ”hint" button that points you to rows/columns you should look closer at, etc..) but also adding a totally game changing mechanic: colors (red and blue). At first I thought it was just going to make the puzzles needlessly complicated, but after about 10 of them I started to realize how much more fun it made puzzling out what blocks you should keep and which you should break. This is the perfect pick-up-and-play game where you can do as many or as few of the puzzles whenever you want, and each one scratches that perfect ”Ah-ha" itch.
x. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered ; What's that? The best strategy JRPG released in the last 10 years is on a PS4 with all of the DLC and it looks gorgeous? Why yes, I'll have that again thank you.
X. Let it Die ; This game came out of nowhere and ended up taking time away from The Last Guardian (I started playing it and got addicted right in the middle of my TLG session). I only ever made it to floor ~18, and I don't know that I'm really going to play it any further, but my 20 or so hours with this game was a lot of fun.
Whew, now that that's over I can read everyone else's lists!
1. Twilight Struggle ; the greatest board game of all time gets a release on PC and mobile devices, and it's a mostly perfect implementation. Such a complex game. Random chance, mind games, and long term strategies are somehow balanced to make a game where every decision matters. Send me an invite (my user name is Gordeaux789), I will play you.
2. Titanfall 2 ; Last year CoD Blops II was my multiplayer shooter of choice. With Infinite Warfare looking to be a step backwards in most regards and no interest in BF1, I decided to give the Titanfall franchise a shot with the new installment and am so glad I did. Titanfall 2 does a lot right. It offers satisfying ways to help your team besides just shooting well in the most popular game modes, so even if you're having a rough match you can still contribute by gunning down some grunts or blowing up an AI controlled Titan. Movement is fast and fluid on foot and more strategically paced when in the game's namesake Titans.There's an almost fighting game style rock paper scissors calculation that needs to be done in your head when you turn the corner in your titan and spot an enemy titan there. What are their abilities? How can I use the terrain to my benefit? Can I win in a head on fight? It's so satisfying.
3. DOOM ; If you had told me there would be a new DOOM in 2016 with platforming and melee kills and that I would love it, I would have called you a crazy person, but here we are. Fantastic game. Blows every single FPS campaign since DOOM II out of the water.
4. Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; Witcher 3 is my game of the generation. This game made me buy and read fantasy novels, and I still think the storytelling in the game is better even though I love the books. The combat is miles beyond most WRPGs and while it doesn't hold up to standards set by Japanese action games like Monster Hunter and Dark Souls it still satisfies and challenges on the hardest difficulty. Phenomenal game. A masterpiece that has completely overshadowed last gen's RPG opus Mass Effect.
5. The Witness ; I didn't finish the witness. Once I had gotten into the mountain I decided that I had seen enough. What puts the witness on my GOTY list is that it more than any other game I have ever played has captured that feeling of discovery and learning. When the knot in your brain undoes itself after hours of pondering a specific puzzle mechanic in that game, you wonder how something that is now so clear could have seemed so obtuse prior to understanding it.
6. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone ; basically a love letter to Miku fans, and the Miku game of forever. I was a huge fan of the Dreamy Theater games on PS3 and this is basically that plus more and better. I don't think the note patterns are that great on some of these songs, but whatever. It's a great collection.
7. Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune ; I'm embarassed by how much I played this game this year. It might be my most played game besides the witcher. It's not a great game. It's not even a good game. But it nails what it sets out to do (be softcore porn). Hopefully the next DoA fighting game can take some of the improved soft engine with it.
8. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright ; I haven't finished this campaign or even played the other ones, and I didn't like this game as much as Awakening, but I still enjoyed my time with it and hope to play more.
9. Overwatch ; A fine game with great balance and a wonderful cast of characters, but it just couldn't hold my interest for very long. I don't think the shooting is very good, which is a problem because it's a shooter.
10. Dragon Quest Builders ; delightful game with great art and refreshingly witty writing. Hamstrung by some weird gameplay choices.
Honorable Mentions
x. Darkest Dungeon ; this game got a lot right, but mostly has a ton of issues and turns into a non-fun mess. Great art and sound though. A solid effort. I'm hopeful that they can make a sequel that is good and not just a grind for masochists.
x. TMS #IF ; is that what this game is called? i forgot. SMT x FE. That one. I wish I played more of it.
x. Hitman ; rad game, but just not in the mood for it this year.
x. The Last of Us Remaster ; I was wrong about TLoU for a long time. Phenomenal game.
2. Titanfall 2 ; Last year CoD Blops II was my multiplayer shooter of choice. With Infinite Warfare looking to be a step backwards in most regards and no interest in BF1, I decided to give the Titanfall franchise a shot with the new installment and am so glad I did. Titanfall 2 does a lot right. It offers satisfying ways to help your team besides just shooting well in the most popular game modes, so even if you're having a rough match you can still contribute by gunning down some grunts or blowing up an AI controlled Titan. Movement is fast and fluid on foot and more strategically paced when in the game's namesake Titans.There's an almost fighting game style rock paper scissors calculation that needs to be done in your head when you turn the corner in your titan and spot an enemy titan there. What are their abilities? How can I use the terrain to my benefit? Can I win in a head on fight? It's so satisfying.
3. DOOM ; If you had told me there would be a new DOOM in 2016 with platforming and melee kills and that I would love it, I would have called you a crazy person, but here we are. Fantastic game. Blows every single FPS campaign since DOOM II out of the water.
4. Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; Witcher 3 is my game of the generation. This game made me buy and read fantasy novels, and I still think the storytelling in the game is better even though I love the books. The combat is miles beyond most WRPGs and while it doesn't hold up to standards set by Japanese action games like Monster Hunter and Dark Souls it still satisfies and challenges on the hardest difficulty. Phenomenal game. A masterpiece that has completely overshadowed last gen's RPG opus Mass Effect.
5. The Witness ; I didn't finish the witness. Once I had gotten into the mountain I decided that I had seen enough. What puts the witness on my GOTY list is that it more than any other game I have ever played has captured that feeling of discovery and learning. When the knot in your brain undoes itself after hours of pondering a specific puzzle mechanic in that game, you wonder how something that is now so clear could have seemed so obtuse prior to understanding it.
6. Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone ; basically a love letter to Miku fans, and the Miku game of forever. I was a huge fan of the Dreamy Theater games on PS3 and this is basically that plus more and better. I don't think the note patterns are that great on some of these songs, but whatever. It's a great collection.
7. Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Fortune ; I'm embarassed by how much I played this game this year. It might be my most played game besides the witcher. It's not a great game. It's not even a good game. But it nails what it sets out to do (be softcore porn). Hopefully the next DoA fighting game can take some of the improved soft engine with it.
8. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright ; I haven't finished this campaign or even played the other ones, and I didn't like this game as much as Awakening, but I still enjoyed my time with it and hope to play more.
9. Overwatch ; A fine game with great balance and a wonderful cast of characters, but it just couldn't hold my interest for very long. I don't think the shooting is very good, which is a problem because it's a shooter.
10. Dragon Quest Builders ; delightful game with great art and refreshingly witty writing. Hamstrung by some weird gameplay choices.
Honorable Mentions
x. Darkest Dungeon ; this game got a lot right, but mostly has a ton of issues and turns into a non-fun mess. Great art and sound though. A solid effort. I'm hopeful that they can make a sequel that is good and not just a grind for masochists.
x. TMS #IF ; is that what this game is called? i forgot. SMT x FE. That one. I wish I played more of it.
x. Hitman ; rad game, but just not in the mood for it this year.
x. The Last of Us Remaster ; I was wrong about TLoU for a long time. Phenomenal game.
Nocturnowl
Member
You didn't pull an HBK and lose your smile did you?
It's okay, Rabbids RPG will come to the rescue.
Didn't twig this one when I described it as Platinum esque, slots in right alongside the rest of the platinum style pros and cons the game holds.
NinjamicWZ
Banned
1. Last Guardian ; a beautiful entry into the long lineage of cinematic puzzle platformers, ode to Eric Chahi by way of ode to Ueda... this is the apex predator and I doubt we'll ever get a chance to see anyone take it to these heights again any time soon, unless Play Dead ascends to AAA. I felt and understood something really profound in Last Guardian, it was a joy to play and remains that way.
2. Dark Souls III ; Souls but it looks and plays nicer than ever. Resonantly plays on the series past, carves new territories and ideas before saying bye, and it's likely my favorite entry for PvP due to environment and enemy interaction moments. That church alone and the graveyard alone... it was like a Quake III map x Resident Evil 4. Like any Souls game, I was through this game probably 4 times and god knows how many total hours before continuing to affirm that, yes, Souls games are always GOTY material for me, every time.
3. Street Fighter V ; the only fighting game to successfully make me give any kind of a shit about trying to at least get competent since the Dreamcast, probably. They released in a way that hurt the game big time and I came in late because of that apathy too, but retroactively, I think it was partially a right thinking idea if it managed to bring me out of my safe zone and into online play to kinda remember how the arcade used to feel, in a game that's masterfully executed at it's core. I love the way it looks, love how it plays and it's so mandatory to have around I double dipped digital a couple weeks after buying it, just for ease of access.
4. Inside ; another ode to Eric Chahi, with a sometimes genius level of intuitiveness that almost feels too docile to feel rewarding at times, but keeps the pace brisk and the experience effective. A beautiful amalgamation of influences that I feel touch on my own niche experiences with media and games, which I very much appreciate... Heart of Darkness x Akira. Remarkable, another tumescent fruit on the family tree.
5. Alienation ; I'm a Diablo fan, and I love twin stick shooters. Housemarque just nails it, though it could still use more content of some kind. This was the faster, looser and less consequential sister city of last year's Helldivers and scratched much of the same itch for me in a different way. I still hop into it every now and then and there's a ton of new features that make it even better than it was at release. A must have PS4 game and here's hoping for a Pro patch.
6. Final Fantasy XV ; despite the game's final chapters making me recognize that I was playing a tragically mutilated experience, I felt something special even in those parts, and I continued to mine so, so much play and joy from the game that it can only be a game I greatly enjoyed. Moving at times, beautiful, vast and playable for a very long time. Not the XII on steroids experience I might've wanted, but 4 weeks of addicted play that I'm still keen to revisit and replay isn't something I write off.
7. Uncharted 4 ; Astoundingly beautiful, always polished and fun, plays with the medium well as always. HDR support brought it back into maintained reverence and remembrance for me when I replayed it and got a solid dose of it one more time after not having touched it since that first month.
8. Doom ; just amazing campaign, so raw and momentously fun, moody but witty, truly incredible music, excellent gameplay, aesthetic, design etc... I dig the story and the VO. I'm not as into this game as people who live, eat and breathe FPS, but I do have appreciation for Doom on PS1 and Quake III on PC especially, and this game exceeded my optimistic expectations. I got way more than enough out of it.
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants In Manhattan ; took a chance and rented it, liked it a lot and bought it for $20 later. Not Platinum's best game at all, initially overpriced and clearly rushed out for the movie + Activision, but I love TMNT so much and this is the best they've ever played. Major fun, lots of personality, rough around the edges... doesn't really matter. The game got on overly rough time because it priced itself out of mid-tier AA bracket, hardcore Platinum fans expect a lot from them, Transformers Devestation clearly baked longer, and other TMNT fans are sometimes just nostalgia blind AVGN-style "dis ain't duh toytles, ruinin mah childhood" people who get the Ghostbusters trailer kneejerk response to it not being how they remember the NES & SNES games.
10. Mystery Chronicles: One Way Heroics ; just the right blend of addictive roguelite, old school JRPG feel + irreverence, and handheld convenience. I would have maybe skipped this game if it hadn't gotten a physical release from LimitedRunGames, but I'm glad it worked out.
Shout out to:
10 Second Ninja X
Ratchet & Clank Remake
Odin Sphere Leiftrhasir
Grand Kingdom
Dragon Quest Builders
2. Dark Souls III ; Souls but it looks and plays nicer than ever. Resonantly plays on the series past, carves new territories and ideas before saying bye, and it's likely my favorite entry for PvP due to environment and enemy interaction moments. That church alone and the graveyard alone... it was like a Quake III map x Resident Evil 4. Like any Souls game, I was through this game probably 4 times and god knows how many total hours before continuing to affirm that, yes, Souls games are always GOTY material for me, every time.
3. Street Fighter V ; the only fighting game to successfully make me give any kind of a shit about trying to at least get competent since the Dreamcast, probably. They released in a way that hurt the game big time and I came in late because of that apathy too, but retroactively, I think it was partially a right thinking idea if it managed to bring me out of my safe zone and into online play to kinda remember how the arcade used to feel, in a game that's masterfully executed at it's core. I love the way it looks, love how it plays and it's so mandatory to have around I double dipped digital a couple weeks after buying it, just for ease of access.
4. Inside ; another ode to Eric Chahi, with a sometimes genius level of intuitiveness that almost feels too docile to feel rewarding at times, but keeps the pace brisk and the experience effective. A beautiful amalgamation of influences that I feel touch on my own niche experiences with media and games, which I very much appreciate... Heart of Darkness x Akira. Remarkable, another tumescent fruit on the family tree.
5. Alienation ; I'm a Diablo fan, and I love twin stick shooters. Housemarque just nails it, though it could still use more content of some kind. This was the faster, looser and less consequential sister city of last year's Helldivers and scratched much of the same itch for me in a different way. I still hop into it every now and then and there's a ton of new features that make it even better than it was at release. A must have PS4 game and here's hoping for a Pro patch.
6. Final Fantasy XV ; despite the game's final chapters making me recognize that I was playing a tragically mutilated experience, I felt something special even in those parts, and I continued to mine so, so much play and joy from the game that it can only be a game I greatly enjoyed. Moving at times, beautiful, vast and playable for a very long time. Not the XII on steroids experience I might've wanted, but 4 weeks of addicted play that I'm still keen to revisit and replay isn't something I write off.
7. Uncharted 4 ; Astoundingly beautiful, always polished and fun, plays with the medium well as always. HDR support brought it back into maintained reverence and remembrance for me when I replayed it and got a solid dose of it one more time after not having touched it since that first month.
8. Doom ; just amazing campaign, so raw and momentously fun, moody but witty, truly incredible music, excellent gameplay, aesthetic, design etc... I dig the story and the VO. I'm not as into this game as people who live, eat and breathe FPS, but I do have appreciation for Doom on PS1 and Quake III on PC especially, and this game exceeded my optimistic expectations. I got way more than enough out of it.
9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants In Manhattan ; took a chance and rented it, liked it a lot and bought it for $20 later. Not Platinum's best game at all, initially overpriced and clearly rushed out for the movie + Activision, but I love TMNT so much and this is the best they've ever played. Major fun, lots of personality, rough around the edges... doesn't really matter. The game got on overly rough time because it priced itself out of mid-tier AA bracket, hardcore Platinum fans expect a lot from them, Transformers Devestation clearly baked longer, and other TMNT fans are sometimes just nostalgia blind AVGN-style "dis ain't duh toytles, ruinin mah childhood" people who get the Ghostbusters trailer kneejerk response to it not being how they remember the NES & SNES games.
10. Mystery Chronicles: One Way Heroics ; just the right blend of addictive roguelite, old school JRPG feel + irreverence, and handheld convenience. I would have maybe skipped this game if it hadn't gotten a physical release from LimitedRunGames, but I'm glad it worked out.
Shout out to:
10 Second Ninja X
Ratchet & Clank Remake
Odin Sphere Leiftrhasir
Grand Kingdom
Dragon Quest Builders
Hobbestetrician
Member
1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine ; A glorious finale to one of the greats.
2. Overwatch ; I cant believe how hooked I am on a multiplayer shooter.
3. Inside ; How to use the language of games to create a mood and tell a story.
4. The Witness ; The most intricately designed game I have ever played. Every inch has a purpose.
5. Dark Souls III ; A greatest hits of sorts, the best in the series.
6. Abzu ; A beautiful, tranquil dive.
7. Fallout 4: Far Harbor ; The main game should have been more like this.
8. Gravity Rush Remastered ; Loved flying/falling to collect all the gems, didnt much care for the story/missions.
9. Oxenfree ; A nice little narrative, loved the dialogue system and voice work.
10. Gone Home: Console Edition ; Wonderful little story.
Honorable Mentions:
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD ; Would have been top 5 had I never played it before.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition ; Ditto.
Not a great year, in my opinion, with two ports and two expansions in my list. This is mostly due to the fact that Nintendo had nothing compelling on the console front so 2017 is looking to be much better already. Overwatch filled in a lot of the void as well, a total surprise.
2. Overwatch ; I cant believe how hooked I am on a multiplayer shooter.
3. Inside ; How to use the language of games to create a mood and tell a story.
4. The Witness ; The most intricately designed game I have ever played. Every inch has a purpose.
5. Dark Souls III ; A greatest hits of sorts, the best in the series.
6. Abzu ; A beautiful, tranquil dive.
7. Fallout 4: Far Harbor ; The main game should have been more like this.
8. Gravity Rush Remastered ; Loved flying/falling to collect all the gems, didnt much care for the story/missions.
9. Oxenfree ; A nice little narrative, loved the dialogue system and voice work.
10. Gone Home: Console Edition ; Wonderful little story.
Honorable Mentions:
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD ; Would have been top 5 had I never played it before.
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition ; Ditto.
Not a great year, in my opinion, with two ports and two expansions in my list. This is mostly due to the fact that Nintendo had nothing compelling on the console front so 2017 is looking to be much better already. Overwatch filled in a lot of the void as well, a total surprise.
1. Dark Souls 3 ; The first Souls game I've ever finished. Inspired me to go back and finish Dark Souls, and play Bloodborne, and Demon's Souls. Dark Souls 3 is nothing new but it's probably the best in the series.
2. Inside ; Amazing atmosphere. The animation is mind blowing. I love the tone of this game. Every moment of it is so thoughtfully crafted.
3. DOOM ; Myself, along with everyone else, expected DOOM to be mediocre at best. I had totally dismissed it before release. After all the positive buzz I tried it out and had such a great time with it. The most fun I've had with a shooter campaign in ages.
4. Battlefield 1 ; I played BF4 regularly up until this games release. I've also been waiting for the return of the WWII shooter for a long time. (Medal of Honor: European Assault was my jam.) Battlefield 1 is set during the Great War but it totally scratches that itch. The progression loop is lacking but the core gameplay is there. It's nice on the eyes too.
5. Hitman ; This is the best couch co-op game I've played in so long. Yes, I know it's a single player game. But this is the most fun I've had, sitting on the couch with friends and family playing a game together, in recent memory.
6. Rocket League ; (Xbox One) I was late to the party on this one. Somehow feels more like playing soccer than FIFA.
7. Dishonored 2 ; Solid follow up to Dishonored. I thought the story was kinda weak though. Playing as Emily with new powers was a lot of fun. Amazing art direction.
8. Uncharted 4 ; My first Uncharted game. Very pretty and cinematic. Fun while it lasted but it didn't really stick with me.
2. Inside ; Amazing atmosphere. The animation is mind blowing. I love the tone of this game. Every moment of it is so thoughtfully crafted.
3. DOOM ; Myself, along with everyone else, expected DOOM to be mediocre at best. I had totally dismissed it before release. After all the positive buzz I tried it out and had such a great time with it. The most fun I've had with a shooter campaign in ages.
4. Battlefield 1 ; I played BF4 regularly up until this games release. I've also been waiting for the return of the WWII shooter for a long time. (Medal of Honor: European Assault was my jam.) Battlefield 1 is set during the Great War but it totally scratches that itch. The progression loop is lacking but the core gameplay is there. It's nice on the eyes too.
5. Hitman ; This is the best couch co-op game I've played in so long. Yes, I know it's a single player game. But this is the most fun I've had, sitting on the couch with friends and family playing a game together, in recent memory.
6. Rocket League ; (Xbox One) I was late to the party on this one. Somehow feels more like playing soccer than FIFA.
7. Dishonored 2 ; Solid follow up to Dishonored. I thought the story was kinda weak though. Playing as Emily with new powers was a lot of fun. Amazing art direction.
8. Uncharted 4 ; My first Uncharted game. Very pretty and cinematic. Fun while it lasted but it didn't really stick with me.
d34thfrom4bov3
Member
1. Fire Emblem Fates ; I know it was broken up into separate games but as a whole story it felt great. It felt...right? That's the best way I can describe it, giving me all the things I loved about the Fire Emblem franchise and a pretty decent story to boot.
2. Gears of War 4 ; I was a bit meh on this one going on, the more I saw of the new group of main characters the less I seemed interested. Once I picked it up and actually started playing I was hooked. It felt great to play, had a decent story as far as a Gears game goes, and I was actually interested in playing online again (something I did rarely with 3 and Judgement)
3. Overwatch ; I've never been big on multiplayer, at least not for the last so many years but this game brought it back for me. The diversity of the heroes, even just in each class was great. It looked as though they put a lot of time and thought into each character to make sure they weren't insanely overpowered but were fun to play unlike some games that just stack all kinds of ridiculous things into one character's kit and shove it out to the masses (I'm looking at you league of legends) even with the number being small it feels much better than something crazy with millions of characters that would be impossible to balance.
4. Pokemon Sun & Moon ; I was pretty excited going in, but tried to keep expectations in check due to the lack of newer Pokemon and the kind of gimmicky feel of the region specific forms. But I went in and it's the best in the series so far, at least in my book. It may not have the huge selection of Pokemon to catch but I loved the story, the gym battles being replaced I thought was actually pretty interesting and was changed in a way you still felt like you accomplished things with trials. And while I wish they would have added more variety to what was catchable I still loved the game and everything about it.
5. Final Fantasy XV ; I'll admit I'm not finished this one yet but I've loved everything I've played so far. A pretty interesting story, enjoyable combat mechanics, and some pretty impressive visuals (which I kind of expect from any FF games by now)
6. Uncharted 4 ; This was the first Uncharted game I played, mostly going in on it being just boy Tomb Raider and no other real idea. The platforming was smooth, the gunplay and driving were decent, and the story was great.
7. Digimon Cyber Slueth ; This was probably the thing I poured the most amount of hours into this year honestly. (Or it's right up there with Fire Emblem) The amount of digimon, sidequests and areas to explore gave me plenty to do while I just kind of messed around for hours leveling up my team to get them just right before the end of the game.
8. Pokken Tournament ; Of all the fighting games that came out this year this one was the one that really scratched the itch for me. Save for a couple of poorly balanced characters that I think were fixed with patches I absolutely loved it.
9. Forza Horizon 3 ; I'm always a sucker for the Horizon games, and this one was no exception. The scenery was gorgeous as always and it really felt like you were much more involved in what happened in the festival than in years past making you want to keep playing, recruiting drivers, and getting more and more fans.
10. Mafia 3 ; As tedious as the game can be at times the story was awesome and playing in that particular era was a lot of fun. Loved the sound track and pretty much everything else about the game honestly, a little more variety I think this game would've been a classic.
Honorable mentions!
- Civ 6 & Xcom 2 I love strategy games and this was a great year for them I think. Civ 6 has been pretty great from what I've been able to dive into and Xcom 2 (The console version) has felt just as fun/unforgiving as the first.
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was a ton of fun but kinda left me wanting more if that makes sense. I just thought as far as characters it felt a little empty when most of the SMT games have a pretty big variety of monsters/demons you can use as allies
- World of Final Fantasy and Odin Sphere were two games I feel I haven't played much of but want to come back to, Odin Sphere I've played through one character and absolutely fell in love but the switch to someone else wasn't exactly great and I lost interest enough that other things pushed it to the side.
2. Gears of War 4 ; I was a bit meh on this one going on, the more I saw of the new group of main characters the less I seemed interested. Once I picked it up and actually started playing I was hooked. It felt great to play, had a decent story as far as a Gears game goes, and I was actually interested in playing online again (something I did rarely with 3 and Judgement)
3. Overwatch ; I've never been big on multiplayer, at least not for the last so many years but this game brought it back for me. The diversity of the heroes, even just in each class was great. It looked as though they put a lot of time and thought into each character to make sure they weren't insanely overpowered but were fun to play unlike some games that just stack all kinds of ridiculous things into one character's kit and shove it out to the masses (I'm looking at you league of legends) even with the number being small it feels much better than something crazy with millions of characters that would be impossible to balance.
4. Pokemon Sun & Moon ; I was pretty excited going in, but tried to keep expectations in check due to the lack of newer Pokemon and the kind of gimmicky feel of the region specific forms. But I went in and it's the best in the series so far, at least in my book. It may not have the huge selection of Pokemon to catch but I loved the story, the gym battles being replaced I thought was actually pretty interesting and was changed in a way you still felt like you accomplished things with trials. And while I wish they would have added more variety to what was catchable I still loved the game and everything about it.
5. Final Fantasy XV ; I'll admit I'm not finished this one yet but I've loved everything I've played so far. A pretty interesting story, enjoyable combat mechanics, and some pretty impressive visuals (which I kind of expect from any FF games by now)
6. Uncharted 4 ; This was the first Uncharted game I played, mostly going in on it being just boy Tomb Raider and no other real idea. The platforming was smooth, the gunplay and driving were decent, and the story was great.
7. Digimon Cyber Slueth ; This was probably the thing I poured the most amount of hours into this year honestly. (Or it's right up there with Fire Emblem) The amount of digimon, sidequests and areas to explore gave me plenty to do while I just kind of messed around for hours leveling up my team to get them just right before the end of the game.
8. Pokken Tournament ; Of all the fighting games that came out this year this one was the one that really scratched the itch for me. Save for a couple of poorly balanced characters that I think were fixed with patches I absolutely loved it.
9. Forza Horizon 3 ; I'm always a sucker for the Horizon games, and this one was no exception. The scenery was gorgeous as always and it really felt like you were much more involved in what happened in the festival than in years past making you want to keep playing, recruiting drivers, and getting more and more fans.
10. Mafia 3 ; As tedious as the game can be at times the story was awesome and playing in that particular era was a lot of fun. Loved the sound track and pretty much everything else about the game honestly, a little more variety I think this game would've been a classic.
Honorable mentions!
- Civ 6 & Xcom 2 I love strategy games and this was a great year for them I think. Civ 6 has been pretty great from what I've been able to dive into and Xcom 2 (The console version) has felt just as fun/unforgiving as the first.
- Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE was a ton of fun but kinda left me wanting more if that makes sense. I just thought as far as characters it felt a little empty when most of the SMT games have a pretty big variety of monsters/demons you can use as allies
- World of Final Fantasy and Odin Sphere were two games I feel I haven't played much of but want to come back to, Odin Sphere I've played through one character and absolutely fell in love but the switch to someone else wasn't exactly great and I lost interest enough that other things pushed it to the side.
Care to explain how it's childish and one dimensional?
What you consider childish, others consider to be pure fun. Not every game has to have some sort of political statement.
I don't see how it's one dimensional. The only thing I can envision you saying is "you just shoot guys in an arena" but that's so reductive that you can do it to every game.
Didn't play that many new games this year so I only have a top 5:
1. Final Fantasy XV ; Honestly choosing between this and Pokemon for my number 1 spot was pretty hard. Both are fun JRPGs with great music, they're the two games that I probably spent the most time on this year not counting Splatoon, and they both have characters that do a Jojo pose. But I think FFXV wins as the game I had the most fun with. Final Fantasy XV is a very flawed game with some huge storytelling problems, but the fun gameplay, amazing graphics, and surprisingly well-written dynamic between the game's four main characters were enough to carry those problems through 100+ hours and elevate the game to become one of my favorite games in the series. Might be in my top 5 FFs? I'm not sure.
2. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; Despite it being in my number 2 spot, I would say Pokemon Sun/Moon is the closest thing to a perfect game on my list. It's a Pokemon game with story and characters I genuinely cared about and a great setting that mixes up the usual formula in fun and interesting ways. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it, other than that occasionally catching & raising Pokemon can get a little dull.
3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Before this year I'd never even played any of the Uncharted games, but I think after going through 1, 2, and 3 back in February and 4 in June, 4 is my clear favorite. The writing and acting are top-notch, and I felt the ending was a perfect way to finish the series off. Still not a fan of the shooting and enemy encounter design though.
4. The Last Guardian ; Absolutely a worthy successor to Shadow of the Colossus. It's a great game, but it came dangerously close to the limit of Ueda jank I can tolerate, and a couple of the puzzles are so obtuse I find it impossible to believe that anyone figured them out without a guide.
5. Paper Mario: Color Splash ; Putting together my thoughts on how I feel about Color Splash is hard, because even I'm not really sure how I felt about it. I'm not even sure if I thought it was a good game or not. Simply put, I loved everything about Paper Mario: Color Splash... except the gameplay. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to like the weird card-based battle system. I thought the writing, music, and yes even the characters were all great and up to the standards of the other Paper Mario games, it's just a shame that so many people will give it a pass due to the battle system.
1. Final Fantasy XV ; Honestly choosing between this and Pokemon for my number 1 spot was pretty hard. Both are fun JRPGs with great music, they're the two games that I probably spent the most time on this year not counting Splatoon, and they both have characters that do a Jojo pose. But I think FFXV wins as the game I had the most fun with. Final Fantasy XV is a very flawed game with some huge storytelling problems, but the fun gameplay, amazing graphics, and surprisingly well-written dynamic between the game's four main characters were enough to carry those problems through 100+ hours and elevate the game to become one of my favorite games in the series. Might be in my top 5 FFs? I'm not sure.
2. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; Despite it being in my number 2 spot, I would say Pokemon Sun/Moon is the closest thing to a perfect game on my list. It's a Pokemon game with story and characters I genuinely cared about and a great setting that mixes up the usual formula in fun and interesting ways. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it, other than that occasionally catching & raising Pokemon can get a little dull.
3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Before this year I'd never even played any of the Uncharted games, but I think after going through 1, 2, and 3 back in February and 4 in June, 4 is my clear favorite. The writing and acting are top-notch, and I felt the ending was a perfect way to finish the series off. Still not a fan of the shooting and enemy encounter design though.
4. The Last Guardian ; Absolutely a worthy successor to Shadow of the Colossus. It's a great game, but it came dangerously close to the limit of Ueda jank I can tolerate, and a couple of the puzzles are so obtuse I find it impossible to believe that anyone figured them out without a guide.
5. Paper Mario: Color Splash ; Putting together my thoughts on how I feel about Color Splash is hard, because even I'm not really sure how I felt about it. I'm not even sure if I thought it was a good game or not. Simply put, I loved everything about Paper Mario: Color Splash... except the gameplay. In the end, I couldn't bring myself to like the weird card-based battle system. I thought the writing, music, and yes even the characters were all great and up to the standards of the other Paper Mario games, it's just a shame that so many people will give it a pass due to the battle system.
No that's what I mean. When I made that post I didn't realize I was in the goty thread, not really the place for those kinds of discussions. Doom does make my list, so I'll explain it in there.
1. Titanfall 2 ; Fun, all day. the most fun I've had playing a game. Fantastic and innovative campaign and top notch multiplayer - the whole package.
2. The Last Guardian ; Videogames are escapism, and rarely does escapism move me as much as TLG did. The fact that this game came out at all makes it a gift, and although it is rough around the edges, technically speaking, the emotional story and achievement in Trico's AI makes it unforgettable.
3. Shadow Warrior 2 ; See: Titanfall 2. 2016 was a solid year for frantic, well-made FPS games, and this was my second favorite. I love the corny, smart ass jokes, the intensity of the combat, the amazing graphics and setting. It was like injecting pure fun into my veins.
4. Uncharted 4 ; My favorite Uncharted game. More than the previous ones, this really made me care about the stupid story and forget about the chasm of Ludonarrative dissonance in regards to these loveable characters being stone-cold killers in the context of events of 4 and the previous games. But somehow the characters, story, settings, and most balanced and refined gameplay in the series to date ended up resulting in one of my favorite action/adventure games of all time. It's a cinematic thrill ride like nobody else but Naughty Dog can make. And dem graphics. Wow.
5. Dishonored 2 ; Dishonored has finally joined the ranks with my other two favorite game series' about making fun choices - Bioshock and Deus Ex. The world-building is first rate AAA, and you can't help but feel like you're in a real place, and luckily that real place is fascinating. The open environments scratched my exploration itch, and you can't help but want to explore a setting as amazing as Karnaca, which is far more interesting and scenic than Dunwall ever as. This game on a high-end PC is a show-stopper, visually, too. Amazing and memorable.
6. Rez Infinite ; Rez has always been one of my favorite games for its simple but fun shooting gameplay and its refusal to ever seem dated. This could've been a PSN game released today and it would still be the stylish, visual marvel that it is. It's a dreamcast game, amazingly enough, and you'd never know when playing the remaster. And Infinite shows a glimpse of a modern day (or perhaps futuristic?) Rez, and ups the ante quite a bit with more free-roam movement, somehow even prettier visuals and a more epic soundtrack. Hopefully it is a taste of things to come. Can't wait to play it on VR eventually.
7. Quantum Break ; Dumb, loud, AAA sci-fi cheese, but I'd be lying if I said the stylish combat wasn't fun and the story (complete with live action TV episodes) didn't hold my interest. Not to mention the Remedy nostalgia. Never seen anything like it in videogames and enjoyed it the way I'd enjoy a corny Sci Fi TV series (though one elevated by some fantastic performances from some of the best actors in TV) or a big-budget blockbuster special effects movie. Shallow and not mentally nutritious, but delicious, like a pizza from your favorite restaurant.
8. Abzu ; Dem feels. For years I've aways wanted a follow-up to Ecco the Dolphin on Dreamcast. Well, this isnt that game, but it definitely scratches the itch with the stylized, beautiful ocean-exploration experience from the art director of Journey. As someone who loves animals and the ocean, I have a soft spot in my heart for this game.
9. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; While it's short and ends abruptly, MD was one of the more immersive games I played. No game makes exploring a city at night as entertaining as Deus Ex games can, and MD delivers that feeling in spades. The gameplay also improves on HR (better physics, more interactive environments, new and improved augments, etc) while staying true to what made that game fun as well.
10. Firewatch ; Took me by surprise. Loved the way the story unfolded like a thrilling mystery paperback novel. My grandfather even loved this game and regarded it the way he would a movie he likes. Really strong storytelling, even if I had trouble relating to the characters at times.
________________________________________
Honorable mentions/side notes:
- Mafia 3 had some of the best storytelling and art direction of any game I played this year, though the gameplay could feel like a repetitive slog at times. Felt like a Scorsese movie at times, and the imersion in the 70's was amazing. I kinda wish the writers had saved this story for the next GTA game, even if M3 was more about tackling serious issues seriously instead of via attempts at satire. I don't know how rockstar can top Mafia 3 with a GTA story at all.
- Ratchet and Clank was loads of fun
- Inside was alright. Don't get all the praise, but it was definitely memorable and I dug the dark humor.
- Videoball might've made the top ten if the online multiplayer was fixed
- Dark Souls 3 - a rewarding, challenging game, but didn't play it enough
- Doom was a blast, but not as much as Titanfall 2 or Shadow Warrior 2
- Need to finish Blood and Wine, but man, that, plus the previous DLC and the core Witcher game - what a fucking package.
- Didn't play Overwatch! Should really get to it eventually.
- No Man's Sky was a relaxing, enjoyable diversion until I found out the devs lied about there being anything in the center of the universe. There is no goal to motivate you to keep playing, just endless busywork gameplay and the admittedly awesome feeling of flying onto a planet from space and exploring it.
- Final Fantasy XV was decent, I'm almost done with it and it was fun enough, but kinda disappointed in the uninteresting story and so many weird design choices.
2. The Last Guardian ; Videogames are escapism, and rarely does escapism move me as much as TLG did. The fact that this game came out at all makes it a gift, and although it is rough around the edges, technically speaking, the emotional story and achievement in Trico's AI makes it unforgettable.
3. Shadow Warrior 2 ; See: Titanfall 2. 2016 was a solid year for frantic, well-made FPS games, and this was my second favorite. I love the corny, smart ass jokes, the intensity of the combat, the amazing graphics and setting. It was like injecting pure fun into my veins.
4. Uncharted 4 ; My favorite Uncharted game. More than the previous ones, this really made me care about the stupid story and forget about the chasm of Ludonarrative dissonance in regards to these loveable characters being stone-cold killers in the context of events of 4 and the previous games. But somehow the characters, story, settings, and most balanced and refined gameplay in the series to date ended up resulting in one of my favorite action/adventure games of all time. It's a cinematic thrill ride like nobody else but Naughty Dog can make. And dem graphics. Wow.
5. Dishonored 2 ; Dishonored has finally joined the ranks with my other two favorite game series' about making fun choices - Bioshock and Deus Ex. The world-building is first rate AAA, and you can't help but feel like you're in a real place, and luckily that real place is fascinating. The open environments scratched my exploration itch, and you can't help but want to explore a setting as amazing as Karnaca, which is far more interesting and scenic than Dunwall ever as. This game on a high-end PC is a show-stopper, visually, too. Amazing and memorable.
6. Rez Infinite ; Rez has always been one of my favorite games for its simple but fun shooting gameplay and its refusal to ever seem dated. This could've been a PSN game released today and it would still be the stylish, visual marvel that it is. It's a dreamcast game, amazingly enough, and you'd never know when playing the remaster. And Infinite shows a glimpse of a modern day (or perhaps futuristic?) Rez, and ups the ante quite a bit with more free-roam movement, somehow even prettier visuals and a more epic soundtrack. Hopefully it is a taste of things to come. Can't wait to play it on VR eventually.
7. Quantum Break ; Dumb, loud, AAA sci-fi cheese, but I'd be lying if I said the stylish combat wasn't fun and the story (complete with live action TV episodes) didn't hold my interest. Not to mention the Remedy nostalgia. Never seen anything like it in videogames and enjoyed it the way I'd enjoy a corny Sci Fi TV series (though one elevated by some fantastic performances from some of the best actors in TV) or a big-budget blockbuster special effects movie. Shallow and not mentally nutritious, but delicious, like a pizza from your favorite restaurant.
8. Abzu ; Dem feels. For years I've aways wanted a follow-up to Ecco the Dolphin on Dreamcast. Well, this isnt that game, but it definitely scratches the itch with the stylized, beautiful ocean-exploration experience from the art director of Journey. As someone who loves animals and the ocean, I have a soft spot in my heart for this game.
9. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; While it's short and ends abruptly, MD was one of the more immersive games I played. No game makes exploring a city at night as entertaining as Deus Ex games can, and MD delivers that feeling in spades. The gameplay also improves on HR (better physics, more interactive environments, new and improved augments, etc) while staying true to what made that game fun as well.
10. Firewatch ; Took me by surprise. Loved the way the story unfolded like a thrilling mystery paperback novel. My grandfather even loved this game and regarded it the way he would a movie he likes. Really strong storytelling, even if I had trouble relating to the characters at times.
________________________________________
Honorable mentions/side notes:
- Mafia 3 had some of the best storytelling and art direction of any game I played this year, though the gameplay could feel like a repetitive slog at times. Felt like a Scorsese movie at times, and the imersion in the 70's was amazing. I kinda wish the writers had saved this story for the next GTA game, even if M3 was more about tackling serious issues seriously instead of via attempts at satire. I don't know how rockstar can top Mafia 3 with a GTA story at all.
- Ratchet and Clank was loads of fun
- Inside was alright. Don't get all the praise, but it was definitely memorable and I dug the dark humor.
- Videoball might've made the top ten if the online multiplayer was fixed
- Dark Souls 3 - a rewarding, challenging game, but didn't play it enough
- Doom was a blast, but not as much as Titanfall 2 or Shadow Warrior 2
- Need to finish Blood and Wine, but man, that, plus the previous DLC and the core Witcher game - what a fucking package.
- Didn't play Overwatch! Should really get to it eventually.
- No Man's Sky was a relaxing, enjoyable diversion until I found out the devs lied about there being anything in the center of the universe. There is no goal to motivate you to keep playing, just endless busywork gameplay and the admittedly awesome feeling of flying onto a planet from space and exploring it.
- Final Fantasy XV was decent, I'm almost done with it and it was fun enough, but kinda disappointed in the uninteresting story and so many weird design choices.
I guess I ruffled some feathers by ranking Inside on my list after watching a playthrough of it. I feel a little iffy about it but for that kind of game I honestly don't think my assessment would change if I were to pick it up and play it now.
The Last Guardian will probably end up knocking it down a spot once I finish that (and who knows if DOOM will make the deadline), but if everyone's sentiment is that it's not in the spirit of voting I'll make INSIDE an honourable mention. That just seems unnecessary on a list with <10 games as is and it really does deserve props.
Playing through the Last Guardian having seen Inside is really interesting. The parts where Trico
gave me strong Inside vibes - they're really kinetic solutions to puzzles that have a bit of slapstick.
I've also been surprised to see Inside be even more minimalist than The Last Guardian. One less dimension, no control prompts, no text, no VA, fewer ways to interact, and fewer dead ends.Then again Shadow of the Colossus had an entirely empty open world, so minimalism =/= less to do.
The Last Guardian will probably end up knocking it down a spot once I finish that (and who knows if DOOM will make the deadline), but if everyone's sentiment is that it's not in the spirit of voting I'll make INSIDE an honourable mention. That just seems unnecessary on a list with <10 games as is and it really does deserve props.
Playing through the Last Guardian having seen Inside is really interesting. The parts where Trico
catapults you to the next floor with a wagon and carries you up to a switch with a tidal wave
I've also been surprised to see Inside be even more minimalist than The Last Guardian. One less dimension, no control prompts, no text, no VA, fewer ways to interact, and fewer dead ends.Then again Shadow of the Colossus had an entirely empty open world, so minimalism =/= less to do.
Only one week left? I'm currently playing through U4 and still got TLG shrink-wrapped, so yeah, I don't think I'll be going to vote this year.
Having played it, I can assure you that's fine if you rank Inside after only watching a playthrough: sure, it's as atmospheric as fuck and it's a pleasure for your eyes but as a game it's sooooo boring, "puzzles" are way too easy, platforming is dumb and story is inexistent, I honestly don't understand how Inside got so much praise when it's clearly a Limbo in disguise, and at least its predecessor was something original when it came out.
Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
Oh no... I've been playing the cartridge! I should have done that so I can just take a break from whatever huge jrpg I'm playing and wubalubbadub whenever I want.
At least you're playing it! I've mostly been a cart / disc guy since I use my old games to buy new ones, but the 3DS has totally changed me for mobile systems. It's super awesome to have Rhythm Heaven, Theatrhythm, and Picross 3D whenever I want them within seconds. Can go straight from Ringside to Dancing Mad to chiseling out an Oni mask.
Nocturnowl
Member
I deliberately chose not to mention rip and tear, i'm obviously too cool for that.
Neogaf search says there are 27 posts with both the words "rip" and "tear"
Magic Mushroom
Member
Your formating is wrong. Use ; as a separator. See the OP.
Vostranoid
Neo Member
1. The Last Guardian ; Probably not the best "game" to play from a mechanical standpoint, but definitely makes up for it by being one of the best examples of a game that is more than that. Masterpiece.
2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine ; Great conclusion to one of the best games of all time.
3. Overwatch ; Probably my favorite PvP FPS ever. It's a lot of fun. Only big problem really is the somewhat lacking balance.
4. Dark Souls III ; Not the best souls game, but still a lot of fun.
5. Doom ; Load the game, start shootin', forget about your problems.
2. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine ; Great conclusion to one of the best games of all time.
3. Overwatch ; Probably my favorite PvP FPS ever. It's a lot of fun. Only big problem really is the somewhat lacking balance.
4. Dark Souls III ; Not the best souls game, but still a lot of fun.
5. Doom ; Load the game, start shootin', forget about your problems.
The Praiseworthy
Member
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; It's the best Action Adventure I've ever played.
2. Ratchet & Clank ; The best platforming game in 2016.
3. The Last Guardian ; Very memorable adventure that will hunt me for long time to come.
4. Dark Souls III ; have the most perfect gameplay in the trilogy.
5. Dishonored 2 ; The level design is among the best I've ever seen in first person game.
6. Final Fantasy XV ; The amount of details in the game's world is mind blowing, also has one of the best post game dungeons I've ever seen in any JRPG game.
7. Rise of the Tomb Raider 20th Years Anniversary ; The game was a much better TR game than the original 2013.
8. Inside ; The atmosphere and the plot twist in the story are mind blowing.
9. Abzu ; Pure beauty and oceans never felt any better than this to explore.
10. Bound ; Artistic game that really gave my my filled of beautiful art direction dish.
2. Ratchet & Clank ; The best platforming game in 2016.
3. The Last Guardian ; Very memorable adventure that will hunt me for long time to come.
4. Dark Souls III ; have the most perfect gameplay in the trilogy.
5. Dishonored 2 ; The level design is among the best I've ever seen in first person game.
6. Final Fantasy XV ; The amount of details in the game's world is mind blowing, also has one of the best post game dungeons I've ever seen in any JRPG game.
7. Rise of the Tomb Raider 20th Years Anniversary ; The game was a much better TR game than the original 2013.
8. Inside ; The atmosphere and the plot twist in the story are mind blowing.
9. Abzu ; Pure beauty and oceans never felt any better than this to explore.
10. Bound ; Artistic game that really gave my my filled of beautiful art direction dish.
FaintColt388301
Member
1. The Last Guardian ; This game was everything I wanted it to be. It's an ideal game. It had a very engaging story that got me a little teary and made my lady weep. Trico was the best AI companion I've ever had. He was animated beautifully and when you look in to his eyes you feel like he's a real animal. The platforming felt really good and made you feel afraid of how high you were. Letting you miss jumps or fall easily gave it a way better feeling than similar platforming in other games like Uncharted. Amazing game.
2. Inside ; Another game that executed exactly what it wanted to. Their is so much mystery in this game. All the way through the ending, you are left asking question and trying to figure out meaning. This game is something to watch for how to tell a story through environments. The puzzles and platforming were fun. Won't forget being killed by a dog in the water in the very beginning. It caught me so off guard with how savage it was.
3. Street Fighter 5 ; The fighting game that got me in to fighting games. I always wanted to get in to them but just moved on after spending hours still sucking. SFV got me though. The gameplay is so good. Got super invested, got a fightstick and started feeling myself. I still suck, but I'm not at the bottom anymore. Tried playing other fighters but nothing felt as good as SFV.
4. Forza Horizon 3 ; Anything Playground Games you know will be good.Horizon 3 upped an already excellent series. The amount of things to do in this game is just ridiculous. Their arcade/not too arcade style makes these games feel so fun to play. The Blizzard Mountain expansion is even better than the main game making this overall package something truly special. A game I can't stop playing.
5. Enter the Gungeon ; I've been following this game for years now. I got to play it at PAX South a couple years back and it has been heavy on my radar ever since. The gameplay is super smooth and the difficulty is no joke. I still have so many secrets and things to discover in this game. It's right up there with Spelunky for me, possibly even higher because I prefer the twin stick, bullet hellishness of it.
6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; It's Naughty Dog. They always go a stellar job. The production, narrative and then ending to the saga was all done masterfully. The shooting felt better than ever and the vertical nature of the levels made it a real challenge at times. The platforming being so automatic and straightforward left it feeling dull at times. It dragged in areas but when the action hits you, it hits you hard. A great end to series.
7. Firewatch ; A really simple game that I don't think is anything amazing. For some reason though, it stuck with me. I really liked the interactions between the characters and you really lose yourself in the environment and let your mind go to make silly assumptions. A well designed world that you really get immersed in.
8. Battlefield 1 ; Haven't touch the single player but the multiplayer is so good. Battlefield games never let me down. Going back to old wars was a great idea and they executed it so well.
9. Titanfall ; What a great campaign. Short, sweet and to the point. Did a great job incorporating the movement in to a liner story mode. Boss fights were fun. BT was such a nice little touch. The multiplayer has lost me since but enjoyed the time I played it and will probably go back later.
10. Quantum Break ; It had really fun mechanics, movement and shooting felt great. The story was interesting but never really did anything all that cool. Great production value with fun gameplay but just held back by other issues.
Honorable Mentions:
Dark Souls 3, Hyper Light Drifter, Oxenfree ; Great games, but I just haven't finished them yet.
Gears of War 4 ; Fun game and was hooked on the multiplayer for a bit but the first Act of the story, laughable microtransactions, and nothing really bringing me back left it forgetable.
2. Inside ; Another game that executed exactly what it wanted to. Their is so much mystery in this game. All the way through the ending, you are left asking question and trying to figure out meaning. This game is something to watch for how to tell a story through environments. The puzzles and platforming were fun. Won't forget being killed by a dog in the water in the very beginning. It caught me so off guard with how savage it was.
3. Street Fighter 5 ; The fighting game that got me in to fighting games. I always wanted to get in to them but just moved on after spending hours still sucking. SFV got me though. The gameplay is so good. Got super invested, got a fightstick and started feeling myself. I still suck, but I'm not at the bottom anymore. Tried playing other fighters but nothing felt as good as SFV.
4. Forza Horizon 3 ; Anything Playground Games you know will be good.Horizon 3 upped an already excellent series. The amount of things to do in this game is just ridiculous. Their arcade/not too arcade style makes these games feel so fun to play. The Blizzard Mountain expansion is even better than the main game making this overall package something truly special. A game I can't stop playing.
5. Enter the Gungeon ; I've been following this game for years now. I got to play it at PAX South a couple years back and it has been heavy on my radar ever since. The gameplay is super smooth and the difficulty is no joke. I still have so many secrets and things to discover in this game. It's right up there with Spelunky for me, possibly even higher because I prefer the twin stick, bullet hellishness of it.
6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; It's Naughty Dog. They always go a stellar job. The production, narrative and then ending to the saga was all done masterfully. The shooting felt better than ever and the vertical nature of the levels made it a real challenge at times. The platforming being so automatic and straightforward left it feeling dull at times. It dragged in areas but when the action hits you, it hits you hard. A great end to series.
7. Firewatch ; A really simple game that I don't think is anything amazing. For some reason though, it stuck with me. I really liked the interactions between the characters and you really lose yourself in the environment and let your mind go to make silly assumptions. A well designed world that you really get immersed in.
8. Battlefield 1 ; Haven't touch the single player but the multiplayer is so good. Battlefield games never let me down. Going back to old wars was a great idea and they executed it so well.
9. Titanfall ; What a great campaign. Short, sweet and to the point. Did a great job incorporating the movement in to a liner story mode. Boss fights were fun. BT was such a nice little touch. The multiplayer has lost me since but enjoyed the time I played it and will probably go back later.
10. Quantum Break ; It had really fun mechanics, movement and shooting felt great. The story was interesting but never really did anything all that cool. Great production value with fun gameplay but just held back by other issues.
Honorable Mentions:
Dark Souls 3, Hyper Light Drifter, Oxenfree ; Great games, but I just haven't finished them yet.
Gears of War 4 ; Fun game and was hooked on the multiplayer for a bit but the first Act of the story, laughable microtransactions, and nothing really bringing me back left it forgetable.
Arcana Wiz
Member
This is year was a huge backlog cleaner to me, so i will be giving my vote to the only game i remember playing from 2016 because it really deserves.
1. Stardew Valley ; I'm a "longtime fan" of Harvest Moon, i mean i loved the series on the N64 and GBA days, but it began to really grow stale for me and the exciment began to drop after each release, didnt help that the devs follow game freak philosophy of removing beloved and well received features on future releases. Stardew Valley is every fan dream of the evolution of HM games, conciliating elements of the old games with enjoyable innovations for the player, one example is the sprinkler that in mid-late game automation the task of watering your endless
plantations. with 150 hours played i only say one more thing: Play It for yourself!
1. Stardew Valley ; I'm a "longtime fan" of Harvest Moon, i mean i loved the series on the N64 and GBA days, but it began to really grow stale for me and the exciment began to drop after each release, didnt help that the devs follow game freak philosophy of removing beloved and well received features on future releases. Stardew Valley is every fan dream of the evolution of HM games, conciliating elements of the old games with enjoyable innovations for the player, one example is the sprinkler that in mid-late game automation the task of watering your endless
berries
Seijuro
Member
1. Overwatch ; The best multiplayer game this year and one of the most polished games I have ever played. A diverse cast of characters and objective-based modes make this the best team-shooter for people who are not usually fans of the genre.
2. Final Fantasy XV ; While probably not the Final Fantasy people have expected for 10+ years, this is the most fun I have had with a JRPG in years. Awesome battle mechanics and a fun roadtrip with a surprisingly good cast of characters.
3. Street Fighter V ; A perplexing release strategy as a barren game, even missing the most basic of modes, this is still Street Fighter, the most balanced, well rounden fighting game and with each patch slowly crawling back to the crown of fighting games.
4. The King of Fighters XIV ; The impossible fighting game that shouldnt exist in this industrys current climate, made by a company that should have died long ago. A rebuke to old fighting games and a great (re-) entry in the 23 year old KOF series.
5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Surprisingly solid, surprisingly as good as the first (2013) one, Lara once again gives Drake a run for his money.
6. Titanfall 2 ; The best shooter of the fall (both MP and SP), at release sandwiched between the genres greats and sent out to die. Lets hope the game has legs and gets a third installment.
7. Battlefield 1 ; A unique setting and great atmosphere.
8. Destiny: Rise of Iron ; I didnt want to buy RoI at first because I thought I was through with Destiny. Im glad I gave in, because for one week straight I did nothing else than grind it out. Go Archons Forge!
9. Dark Souls 3 ; Not much to say about this one. As usual a quality entry in a series that stays at the top of its game.
10. The Division ; A nice take on the Destiny formula, I very much enjoyed my stroll through a devestated NY.
2. Final Fantasy XV ; While probably not the Final Fantasy people have expected for 10+ years, this is the most fun I have had with a JRPG in years. Awesome battle mechanics and a fun roadtrip with a surprisingly good cast of characters.
3. Street Fighter V ; A perplexing release strategy as a barren game, even missing the most basic of modes, this is still Street Fighter, the most balanced, well rounden fighting game and with each patch slowly crawling back to the crown of fighting games.
4. The King of Fighters XIV ; The impossible fighting game that shouldnt exist in this industrys current climate, made by a company that should have died long ago. A rebuke to old fighting games and a great (re-) entry in the 23 year old KOF series.
5. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Surprisingly solid, surprisingly as good as the first (2013) one, Lara once again gives Drake a run for his money.
6. Titanfall 2 ; The best shooter of the fall (both MP and SP), at release sandwiched between the genres greats and sent out to die. Lets hope the game has legs and gets a third installment.
7. Battlefield 1 ; A unique setting and great atmosphere.
8. Destiny: Rise of Iron ; I didnt want to buy RoI at first because I thought I was through with Destiny. Im glad I gave in, because for one week straight I did nothing else than grind it out. Go Archons Forge!
9. Dark Souls 3 ; Not much to say about this one. As usual a quality entry in a series that stays at the top of its game.
10. The Division ; A nice take on the Destiny formula, I very much enjoyed my stroll through a devestated NY.
The Praiseworthy
Member
Thanks for the note... and yeah sadly a lot have forgotten about Bound being released in 2016
1. Dark Souls III ; Precise, brutal combat in a world that's fun to explore and has so many little secrets. A great end to the trilogy.
2. Overwatch ; The best debut and multiplayer game of the year.
3. DOOM ; Biggest surprise, with a melee twist.
4. Darkest Dungeon ; A Lovecraftian roguelike. The sense of dread literally builds with each step.
5. XCOM2 ; Excellent sequel that surpasses the previous game in many ways.
6. The Witness ; Great environmental storytelling in an atmospheric puzzle game.
7. Super Mario Run ; I enjoy it. No apologies.
8. Brigador ; Isometric mech combat with retro cyberpunk style.
9. Pokémon Go ; This got my fat ass walking miles around Central Park to catch Pikachus and Slowbros.
10. Devil Daggers ; Metal.
2. Overwatch ; The best debut and multiplayer game of the year.
3. DOOM ; Biggest surprise, with a melee twist.
4. Darkest Dungeon ; A Lovecraftian roguelike. The sense of dread literally builds with each step.
5. XCOM2 ; Excellent sequel that surpasses the previous game in many ways.
6. The Witness ; Great environmental storytelling in an atmospheric puzzle game.
7. Super Mario Run ; I enjoy it. No apologies.
8. Brigador ; Isometric mech combat with retro cyberpunk style.
9. Pokémon Go ; This got my fat ass walking miles around Central Park to catch Pikachus and Slowbros.
10. Devil Daggers ; Metal.
1. Hitman ; I did not think the episodic release structure would work as well as it did, but it was actually the best way to expierence the game. They really knocked it out of the park with this one and surpassed even Blood Money. Looking forward to more elusive targets and Season 2.
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine ; It kinda feels like cheating, putting DLC in my #2 slot, just to keep my favorite game from last year in the list, but Blood & Wine is just too good! It's a great final chapter for an amazing game.
3. Total War: Warhammer ; I could never get into the Total War games, but the Warhammer license made me give this one another chance and it was absolutely worth it. Having a bunch of minotaurs or heavy cavalry ripping through infantry is very satisfying to watch.
4. Overwatch ; They took the assets of cancelled MMORPG, turned it into a team based hero FPS and actually made it work. Fantastic character design, each hero feels unique and somehow even playing support is fun!
5. Dark Souls 3 ; It's another Souls game and at least for me that's a good thing, as I'm not tired of the formula yet. Though I do hope we see a another Bloodborne after this or a completely new setting.
6. Stardew Valley ; I never had the patience for Harvest Moon, but somehow I've put over 50 hours into this. Probably the most relaxing game I've played in years.
7. Doom ; Had no huge expectations going into this, but after the amazing intro I knew I would enjoy it. The best part about it is how self aware the game is. Demonic invasion in progress.
8. Dishonored 2 ; As a huge fan of the first game, I was looking forward to this ever since they announced it and I was not disappointed. Really liked the great level design.
9. XCOM 2 ; Everything I wanted from a sequel to Enemy Unknown, more varied levels and creepy enemies. Thinking about it now makes me want to replay it sometime this year.
10. Titanfall 2 ; I did not get as addicted to the multiplayer as I did with the first one, but I still had a lot of fun with the campaign.
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine ; It kinda feels like cheating, putting DLC in my #2 slot, just to keep my favorite game from last year in the list, but Blood & Wine is just too good! It's a great final chapter for an amazing game.
3. Total War: Warhammer ; I could never get into the Total War games, but the Warhammer license made me give this one another chance and it was absolutely worth it. Having a bunch of minotaurs or heavy cavalry ripping through infantry is very satisfying to watch.
4. Overwatch ; They took the assets of cancelled MMORPG, turned it into a team based hero FPS and actually made it work. Fantastic character design, each hero feels unique and somehow even playing support is fun!
5. Dark Souls 3 ; It's another Souls game and at least for me that's a good thing, as I'm not tired of the formula yet. Though I do hope we see a another Bloodborne after this or a completely new setting.
6. Stardew Valley ; I never had the patience for Harvest Moon, but somehow I've put over 50 hours into this. Probably the most relaxing game I've played in years.
7. Doom ; Had no huge expectations going into this, but after the amazing intro I knew I would enjoy it. The best part about it is how self aware the game is. Demonic invasion in progress.
8. Dishonored 2 ; As a huge fan of the first game, I was looking forward to this ever since they announced it and I was not disappointed. Really liked the great level design.
9. XCOM 2 ; Everything I wanted from a sequel to Enemy Unknown, more varied levels and creepy enemies. Thinking about it now makes me want to replay it sometime this year.
10. Titanfall 2 ; I did not get as addicted to the multiplayer as I did with the first one, but I still had a lot of fun with the campaign.
NathanDiego
Member
Thanks for the note... and yeah sadly a lot have forgotten about Bound being released in 2016
Also,need to use 1. 2. 3. or 1- 2- 3- is right too?
NinjamicWZ
Banned
If you're interested in where some of those mutual design philosophies finds their origins and intersect, check out this thread: The Cinematic Platformer Compendium
1. Overwatch ; Havent been this enthralled in a shooter since the original Halo trilogy. Oddly enough, I wasn't even following this game other than just knowing it was a Blizzard team shooter (I thought it incorporated more MOBA type elements) up until the free to play beta. Instantly it went to a day 1 purchase and I cannot put it down. No matter how frustrated I get with it (mostly due to console Widows on comp lol) the highs in this game are unlike anything else I played this year and I envision I will be playing for much of the year to come as well given the free DLC. Easily my game of the year.
2. Dark Souls 3 ; I loved this game on my first three playthroughs. I even managed to do my first S1 run in a souls series with this game. However after a few months I found it rather forgettable in the overall series and the first DLC was lackluster; luckily that still means its better than most other games I played this year. The mechanics absolutely are a perfect blend of the souls series with the bloodborne quickness and I LOVED that decision. The end game bosses ramped up in difficulty which was also a nice change to the series generally speaking. The weapon arts was a nice addition to give some needed variety to character builds both in terms of PvP and PvE. Overall my second best of this year even if its' locations and rememberability render it lower on the list of the souls' borne series.
3. Titanfall 2 ; I loved the original; I played that game for countless hours even as the population dropped off. TF2, while making some design decisions I still am not particularly found of, still managed to give us an amazing FPS package that is still unique to the genre. How seamless getting in and out of your titan feels to immediately wall running and ziplining and jumping all over the place. Really hope Respawn gets a shot at a 3rd game given the sales of this one. The formula and gameplay is just too damn good to be forgotten.
4. Gears of War 4 ; A well polished game with tons of features and the perfect mechanics of the third person shooter genre the Gears' series has come to define. However, with a lack of innovation to the formula, it was hard for me to stay engaged in this one. I couldn't shake the feeling of staleness as I did more or less the same stuff I had in the previous installments with little additional implementations. I ended up dropping it much quicker than I would have anticipated but for those who have yet to play the series to such an extent there is a lot to enjoy here.
5. Destiny: RIse of Iron ; I didn't play a lot of games this year so this one more or less makes my list because of that (notice a trend with the games I play?). The raid was awesome and that more or less made the expansion worthwhile to me even if this was a by the numbers destiny expansion.
2. Dark Souls 3 ; I loved this game on my first three playthroughs. I even managed to do my first S1 run in a souls series with this game. However after a few months I found it rather forgettable in the overall series and the first DLC was lackluster; luckily that still means its better than most other games I played this year. The mechanics absolutely are a perfect blend of the souls series with the bloodborne quickness and I LOVED that decision. The end game bosses ramped up in difficulty which was also a nice change to the series generally speaking. The weapon arts was a nice addition to give some needed variety to character builds both in terms of PvP and PvE. Overall my second best of this year even if its' locations and rememberability render it lower on the list of the souls' borne series.
3. Titanfall 2 ; I loved the original; I played that game for countless hours even as the population dropped off. TF2, while making some design decisions I still am not particularly found of, still managed to give us an amazing FPS package that is still unique to the genre. How seamless getting in and out of your titan feels to immediately wall running and ziplining and jumping all over the place. Really hope Respawn gets a shot at a 3rd game given the sales of this one. The formula and gameplay is just too damn good to be forgotten.
4. Gears of War 4 ; A well polished game with tons of features and the perfect mechanics of the third person shooter genre the Gears' series has come to define. However, with a lack of innovation to the formula, it was hard for me to stay engaged in this one. I couldn't shake the feeling of staleness as I did more or less the same stuff I had in the previous installments with little additional implementations. I ended up dropping it much quicker than I would have anticipated but for those who have yet to play the series to such an extent there is a lot to enjoy here.
5. Destiny: RIse of Iron ; I didn't play a lot of games this year so this one more or less makes my list because of that (notice a trend with the games I play?). The raid was awesome and that more or less made the expansion worthwhile to me even if this was a by the numbers destiny expansion.
The Praiseworthy
Member
Edited the post again... thanks for the note!