GAF Games of the Year 2016 - Voting Thread [Voting closed]

1. Doom; Never played the original games but people were raving about it so much I had to try it. Enjoyed the hell out of it, the fast pace was a welcome change from the modern shooter tropes.
2. Gravity Rush Remastered; Never played the Vita game but was always intrigued by it. Reminded me of playing the first inFAMOUS. Kat is such an awesome character. GR2 is my most anticipated game of next year.
3. Mirror's Edge Catalyst; I respected the original game but didn't really enjoy playing it. I found the controls to be much better in this one and I really enjoyed the open world.
4. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine; It's more Witcher 3, can't go wrong there.
5. The Witness; Gorgeous game with some fantastic puzzles, need to get back to it.
 
Flipowa said:
8. Steins;Gate 0 ; If you liked Steins Gate this is a must play. Even darker than its predecessor, but so much fun. New characters are enjoyable and nothing feels out of place. Maho best girl.
Click to expand...

Steins;Gate has a semicolon in its title! What do I do?
It's the one game title that uses a semicolon. We're using that character as a delimiter, so it's not included in the title here. If you use a semicolon in that title, it'll turn out as "Steins" and it won't get sorted automatically. So, don't use a semicolon in that title. Use it as a delimiter.
 
Eh, it was an alright year for gaming. It'd probably be better if I could get Hitman or Dishonored 2 to run at decent enough quality on my computer.

At any rate, this is my list so far. Expect it to change over the next few weeks.

1. Planet Coaster ; Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 was one of my favorite PC games when I was a kid, and I was excited to see that game's devs announce a spiritual successor at E3 2015. Does it live up to my expectations? Well, it could certainly do with more rides and scenery and some tweaking of the building-constructing mechanics. However, this scratches that amusement park-making itch incredibly well for me, and there's little I've played more this year than Planet Coaster.
2. Stardew Valley ; Now this is a game that sucks you in with the variety of things you can do. Tired of farming? Go fishing, or go mining, or go foraging, or try to make some friends, or try to woo that cute goth chick. And for those who want established in-game goals, you have the community center to build up. Whatever you do, it's all very relaxing, which is a feeling that is arguably underserved by the video game medium. For a $15 indie game made by one person, there's a lot to do, and I spent a lot of time enjoying all of that. I'm still not done, either.
3. Pokemon Sun/Moon ; Back in 2013, I put Pokemon X & Y near the top of my Game of the Year list, calling it one of my favorites in the series. I stand by that, but there was clear room for improvement in regards to the setting, story, and characters. Pokemon Sun & Moon offer those on top of everything I loved about X & Y, and spice up the traditional Pokemon experience with a fun replacement of the gym progression, the brilliant idea of Alolan forms, the replacement of HMs with Poke-Rides and the new Z-Move mechanic. Sun & Moon are probably the single best version pair of the series, and it sets a new bar for Generation VIII to top.
4. Doom ; Controversial opinion here: I don't think 2016's Doom is really that faithful to the original games. Yeah, it's fast-paced and has all the classic Doom enemies and secrets, but there's no sense of dread, no worries of running out of health, and the visuals and music, while still "metal" in a sense, are a far cry from the originals'. With that said, however, this new Doom excels on its own terms, with some of the freshest shooter gameplay I've played in years that doesn't involve Squid Kids. I liked id's last game, Rage, and it appears that they've learned the right lessons from that for this year's Doom.
5. Hyper Light Drifter ; I only got around to playing this after the 60 FPS patch, so I don't know how it played before that fix. From what I've played, however, Hyper Light Drift is a wonderful action-adventure game. This is a game where every action in combat counts, and the wrong move will kill you. Couple that with secrets galore and gorgeous pixel art, and you've got a great example of crowd-funding gone right.
6. Stellaris ; I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't gotten into the late game in this yet, but the early game and mid game are enough, in my opinion, to place it on this list. Exploring the vast emptiness of space, meeting new peoples, and figuring out who is friendly and who isn't is a wonderful experience that I'll have to revisit before school starts back up.
7. VA-11 Hall-A ; That the Steam description for this game prioritizes the "waifus" over the topics of technology and dystopian life is a real shame, as it provides a fascinating world built out of those themes. That the characters are reduced to "waifus" by that marketing is a real shame, too, as these are some legitimately interesting and/or entertaining characters.
8. Thumper ; Thumper is what happens when one half of a band with as demented a sound as Lightning Bolt decides to make a rhythm game with a buddy. The term "visceral" is overused by game marketing, but it absolutely applies in this case, as Thumper is a very intense game in terms of visuals, music, and gameplay.
9. Pony Island ; You like metafiction? Then you'll probably like Pony Island, and I can't say much more without ruining the game's wonderful surprises.
10. Civilization VI ;
 
1. Fire Emblem Fates ; I loved the new mechanics for pairing up, and the removal of weapon degradation by giving powerful weapons more trade-offs made for more tactical choices when outfitting the army rather than just price. Enjoyed all three campaigns but Revelations the most.
2. Monster Hunter Generations ; The new skills allowed me to fill an age-old gaming wish of playing as a FF Dragoon with the Aerial skill and lances. It changed up my game and gave me many more offensive options, even against old foes I know inside-out (literally, having skinned them hundreds of times).
3. Stranger of Sword City ; Intriguing story for a dungeon crawler, I got really wrapped up in the mystery of the Strangers. Vita version if it matters.
4 SMTIV: Apocalypse ; Battle system is an improvement over the original with demon skills now appropriately gaining bonuses for suitable choices. Anime 'power of friendship' nonsense is awful but you can fast-forward through it, it's only a fraction of the game, the meat of it is the battle system combined with a much-improved map.
5. Dragon Quest VII
6. Adventures of Mana
7. Phoenix Wright: Spirit of Justice
8. Bravely Second
9. Sadame
10. Trails of Cold Steel (EU release in January)
 
AM2R needs to be added to spreadsheet.
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1. Overwatch ; I'm level 460, what else should I say? Amazing game with an interesting ranked mode
2. Inside ; This game will be my game of the generation. I want Overwatch to win, that's why Inside is lower, but I don't think anything better than Inside will be ever released
3. The Witness ; great game from one of my favorite developers. Incredible experience
4. Watch Dogs 2 ; Ubisoft did a great job, great open world action, it's much more fun than GTA V
5. Virginia ; truly unique game, amazing soundtrack and cool artstyle
6. Bound ; the most beautiful game of the year, will never forget it
7. Furi ; great gameplay, great bosses, great music
 
1. Titanfall 2 ; Complete surprise . Great campaign, amazing mp and the most fun I've had with a game this year.
2. The Last Guardian ; WOW. A brilliant experience from start to finish. Trico is an outstanding achievement and I loved the game's art style and animations.
3. Dishonered 2 ; A great sequel with amazing level design and stealth gameplay.
4. Street Fighter V ; I suck at it but no other game has made me strive to improve/git gud the way SFV has. Online is super fun and tense. Winning a tough match is always exhilarating.
5. Dragon Quest Builders ; I hate minecraft but this game was so much fun and ate up a lot of my time. Can't wait for a sequel with co-op.
6. Dark Souls III ; Not as great as BB but a great game nonetheless. Refined gameplay and a lot of interesting bosses make this game a worthy goty.
7. Uncharted 4 : A Thief's End ; A let down in many ways but a nice end for a tired franchise. A beautiful and technical achievement with a really solid mp component. I wish it was good enough to be higher on my list.
8. Final Fantasy XV ; Like UC4, It could have been so much better but the end product is still great. Awesome combat, and a fun bonding/coming of age story ensured this was the first FF I've finished since IX.
9. Odin Sphere : Leifthrasir ; Great Update to an amazing game. Beautiful and a lot of fun.
10. Valkyria Chronicles : Remastered ; I'm really glad I got to revisit these amazing characters and gameplay systems again.

Honorable Mentions
x. Doom
x. Hitman
I would pick the Nioh alpha and beta, if I could.
 
1. Dota 2 ; This is my personal GotY every year. It has new content released regularly, and this year was no exception. This year it even included the biggest overhaul patch the game has ever seen, and a new hero that was never in WC3 Dota. Dota isn't just about the game itself, but the community surrounding it too. Professional matches are always entertaining to watch, and Valve has many methods to facilitate watching the game with the rest of the community. I even traveled to Seattle to go to the International, for the second year in a row.
2. Zero Time Dilemma ; I know lots of people disagree with me on this one, but I thought it was a great way to end one of my favorite series of all time. The story was still told well and had neat twists like the previous two games. The game isn't without it's flaws, but it still is an excellent game altogether.
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse ; I love mainline SMT, moreso than Persona. SMTIVA was a great way to do a continuation on a preexisting universe. Being a different perspective in the same world from SMTIV, it was cool how they could have new characters and a new storyline. The gameplay was a great refinement of SMTIV's, and really provides a challenging game, especially on War difficulty. The DLC was also great, especially the Diamond Realm.
4. Doom ; From all the preview footage, trailers, and lack of review copies, we had every reason to believe this game was another Duke Nukem Forever. They couldn't have been further from the truth. The developers clearly understood what makes Doom Doom. No reloading, fast paced gameplay and movement. The Glory Kills looked at first like a slow and clunky kill animation, but it was so fast. You can easily go one Glory Kill into another, or into shooting almost immediately. It's very refreshing in a world where shooters are slower.
5. Overwatch ; I played Team Fortress 2 for years, but Overwatch truly evolved the formula that TF2 established like no other. Blizzard built a competitive shooter that always felt like it was on a fair playing field. Frequent free content updates make this a game that keeps on giving.
 
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Great visuals and a fantastic story to wrap up the series. Loved every minute of it.

2. Doom ; I really didn't see this one coming. It felt like a throwback and a step forward at the same time. It was the most fun I've had with a traditional FPS campaign in a while.

3. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; Another great story from CD Project Red. I can't recommend this game and all of the DLC released enough.

4. Titanfall 2 ; As someone who didn't enjoy the beta, I didn't think this would make my list for the year prior to release. Attrition is still a ton of fun, and I was surprised at the quality of the single player mode.

5. Gears of War 4 ; I went into this game with little expectations, and game away looking forward to what they do next. It was the perfect mix of old and new, and looks great in HDR to boot.

6. Dead Rising 4 ; I've enjoyed every Dead Rising game; however, unlike many I enjoyed the silly zombie killing more than the hardcore survival aspects. Dead Rising 4 was made for people like me.

7. Quantum Break ; While I know this isn't a popular opinion, I really enjoyed this and thought it was another solid Remedy game.

8. Ori and the Blind Forest - Definitive Edition ; A beautiful hand drawn game, that is full of heart. It's a very emotional experience that is worth playing through and seeing to it's conclusion.

9. Inside ; The prefect game to play through in a single sitting, with a crazy ending.

10. Thumper ; The PSVR game I keep coming back to. Never though that a horror rhythm game would be so appealing.

Games I own but haven't played enough: Forza Horizon 3, FFXV, Far Cry Primal, Recore.

And sorry, GAF, but I really didn't like The Last Guardian (great story, decent ending, but awful gameplay IMO).
 
1. Final Fantasy XV; After such a huge wait, we finally had it. And it was addicting. There were definitely story issues but even with those, this one is still my best of the year.

2. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End; Absolutely beautiful game. I was playing it less and looking around at the environment more. But that doesn't mean the game was boring otherwise. Loved every second of it and can't wait for Naughty Dog's next blockbuster.

3. World of Final Fantasy ; FF monster capture game. It's pretty addicting. I can't even move from an area without catching em all.

4. Life is Strange Amazing work by such a small Dev. Kept me hooked.

5. Street Fighter V In the absence of Tekken this is my go to Fighter.
 
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; A postmodern legend by Naughty Dog
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2. Dishonored 2 ; a power steampunk fantasy with exceptional open leveldesign
3. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine ; a bloody great end to Geralts tale
4. Life is Strange ; a very special time travel tale meeting Veronica Mars, lovely and touching
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5. Batman Arkham VR ; being the Batman becomes virtual reality
6. Ratchet and Clank ; a pixar movie to play and feeling home at last, thank you Insomniac
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7. Abzu ; deep sea journey with the sound of whalish
 
1. The Last Guardian ; there is no world and feeling like a Ueda game. I will think of this game and its mood for years to come

2. The Witness ; beautiful world, lovely approach to puzzles, and so many genuinely "aha!" Moments that feel so natural

3. Stardew Valley ; Not only an achievement in hard work and dedication from a single developer, but an engrossingly charming and in depth game that is enjoyable and rewarding
 
1. Overwatch ; While it takes inspiration from TF2 and design inspiration from DOTA characters, it feels fresh and original in its playstyle, and all of the characters are unique. I've found the FPS game captivating, the matchmaking competent, and I enjoy the cosmetic loot boxes and having all weapons available from the get-go. I gave the game a 10/10, making it the first Blizzard game I've scored 10/10, and the first game since 2006 to receive my perfect score.
2. Planet Coaster ; Planet Coaster is the best sandbox theme park builder that has ever existed. While it lacks in game management, and the initial tools struggled to provide enough blueprints for the less creative, the support by Frontier for community creation tools, plus their commitment to releasing additional content has improved the game since release. It's exciting to see theme park simulations back in action.
3. World of Warcraft Legion ; Legion deserves a spot on the list because of how it fundamentally changed much of the tried and true MMO structure of WOW. The game features an excellent story that is presented in ways that surpasses Final Fantasy, and the world quests have been an excellent change of pace from daily quests.
4. Sid Meier's Civilization VI ; While this is a tried and true entry, I really enjoy how religion has changed in the game, as well as how towns are now built.
 
This year was awful to me in terms of gaming because, well, I didn't bought a single new game this year! So I will list only the single new game I played this year and is my personal GOTY and that game is:

1. Pokémon Go ; Been playing this game since July and I thought I would be part of the crowd that was only playing it because it was the boom back in summer. But as I continue playing, I found myself even more hooked into the game, literally just for trying to be the very best like no one ever was (lmao I know, I know, lame af) I tend to walk a lot so this game was perfect to me, it gave me another reason to keep walking even more. The software itself I gotta say, SUCKS pretty badly. It's filled with bugs, and tons of essential features missing like a find box to quickly search certain Pokémon on your bag and stuff like that, but as a concept and game experience, this is where the game excels above the rest. It truly feels I'm Red from the original Red/Blue games exploring my surroundings to catch Pokémon.

This game is my GOTY because I've experienced so many awesome and memorable moments with it, meeting new places in my city and meeting tons of cool people too! This game is the perfect conversation starter and that helped me to overcome my social anxiety. I could reach any person playing it and everyone would talk back to me with the same entusiasm. No other game has achieved that like Pokémon Go and that is why I'm grateful for it and it's my GOTY. I still can't believe a mobile game is my GOTY but there :)
 
1. Overwatch ; Extremely fun, extremely addictive, casual-friendly but also unusually deep gameplay, lovely character design with a diverse and inclusive cast. Also, post-launch support has been fantastic. I see myself still paying this in several years.
2. Inside ; It's pretty much perfect really. Everything feels natural in this game. It's so well-crafted. I've never been stuck a single time, and at the same time progression felt super rewarding. Also, it's the best example of environmental storytelling I've seen this year. And that ending just makes it even more special.
3. Uncharted 4 ; Haters be damned, it's the best in the franchise. Refined gameplay, fantastic dialogue, ridiculously good looking, and the most realistic couple in the history of videogames. It was a worthy sendoff for Nathan Drake. It would've been my #1 if not for the 3-4 climbing sections that drag on to the point where they actually hurt the pacing and replayability.
4. The Witcher 3 : Blood & Wine ; The fact that people would consider putting a DLC in their GOTY list after such an amazing year for games should tell you all you need to know about CDProjekt's talent, dedication and respect for the players. This has more content than most full games, for a fucking third of the price, and at the same level of quality if not better than the original TW3. The story is not as good as Hearts Of Stone (which was god-tier), but it's still excellent and this time, it's a whole new world to explore. Really can't praise these developers enough.
5. Ratchet & Clank ; I was totally meh about the franchise until this one. Super fun, gorgeous, and funny. I felt like I was playing a Pixar movie.
6. Firewatch ; Best story of the year for me. I loved the game's concept which managed to get me attached to a character which I've never seen. It looked great too, shame the performance wasn't really on par.
7. Battlefield 1 ; I haven't played it as much as I want to because of Overwatch but never has a game managed to portray the chaos of war in such a believable manner. Also Frostbite wins best engine of the year for me. Looking that good while running at 60 fps ? Ridiculous.
8. Oxenfree ; Another one with a fantastic story and artstyle. I absolutely loved the characters and dialogue. Best OST of the year for me.
9. Hyper Light Drifter ; Best atmosphere of the year, and that's with me not usually enjoying this kind of artstyle. Great combat, lovely level design, mysterious and engaging story that felt epic. I do hope we get more of this.
10. Doom ; I've never enjoyed wrecking havoc so much. This game is pure fun, a surprisingly long campaign of total destruction. Best feeling in an FPS since Destiny. Also the main character sure looked generic but they managed to give him more personality than in most games. And he was fucking mute !


Honorable Mentions :
Abzû
The Last Guardian
Stories Path Of Destinies
Watch_Dogs 2 (only there because I didn't get to finish it. Otherwise it'd be in my top 10 for sure).
Dark Souls 3
 
On mobile, so will pretty up this list later with pictures and fix typos I make later. This is all for my personal taste, which mostly includes horror games. I have been busy this year, so haven't had a chance to play even half the horror releases this year yet, especially in the last few months, but it's been a very good year. My list as it is now:




01. IMSCARED ; I don't know why this particular title has stuck with me so much this year. It's a pixely 3D horror game where you need to get all the achievements to win, and solve cryptic puzzles in a strange world. The antagonist is interesting, and the game has some fun twists and turns. But something about it has made it truly special to me. Maybe I just had an amazing unique experience, or something about it spoke to me personally. It did scare me a few times, yet I find it absolutely charming. I played a lot of clever things this year, but I enjoyed its cleverness the most. And something about its morbid world speaks to me. Anyway, I thought it was the best thing I played this year in what was a great year for horror and creativity in general.

02. OneShot ; Only non-horror game on my list. I hope this title catches on, it deserves it. It pre-dates Undertale & Pony Island for a metagame, being originally a freeware 2014 game. It got remade and now is over twice as long. With simply one of the most likable protagonists in gaming in a charming, but sad, yet strangely hopeful dying world, you the player must work with protagonist Niko to either save him, or this world. Hard to talk about without spoiling, but quite the experience with some good but challenging puzzles.

03. DreadOut: Keepers of the Dark ; I loved the original DreadOut, but this I think may be a better game. A spin-off from the original, join Linda in a world of mirrors as she combats unique and interesting ghosts to find her escape. Sprit between eight selectable worlds from within a hub, each with 2-3 ghosts to vanquish, what makes it are the unique ghosts full of creativity and well-done execution that shows a similar but maybe even greater genius that these developers from Indonesia have to bring to the table. Decidedly somewhat old-school, but also something truly new and unique to horror. Some of the ghosts and encounters have stuck with me.

04. INSIDE ; With excellent atmosphere in a haunting and cold world, INSIDE joins a nameless boy who treks from farmland to city to underground lakes to get inside... clever puzzle bits, and amazing animation which helps gives a detailed look on a mostly silent world. Ending is fun but didn't blow me away like most.

05. Oxenfree ; 80s horror narrative with some of the best writing and well executed dialogue chains in any game to date. With a dynamic relationship system and actually likable characters, Oxenfree has an interesting world and good atmosphere, but may be best remembered for its writing.

06. Virginia ; I love Twin Peaks and X-Files, and this obvious love letter managed to craft its own experience despite obvious inspirations. A story with well done symbolism, excellent music, and manages to be engaging and moving without a single line of dialogue (funnily enough in contrast to Oxenfree).

07. Sylvio Remastered ; I've come to like this game more and more over time. You play as a girl who uses a cassette recorder to communicate with the dead who goes to an abandoned amusement park to learn more about a tragic incident that happened years ago. It's a quiet, slow game that has 80s syth styled music, an interesting color scheme, and a slowburn horror story that has stuck with me. Very unique, and in its own way very haunting.

08. The Count Lucanor ; The Legend of Zelda as a horror game featured on fairytales. Charming world, twisted characters, fun puzzles, interesting enemies, and multiple endings with a number of secrets helped make this morbid curiosity one of my favorite things I played this year.

09. Pony Island ;
You play an endless runner game which you find out early on was literally made by the Devil. And the fact that's not simplest and earliest twist should say a lot. Interesting and fun experience.

10. Near Death ; Everyone got so focused on FireWatch, this game which is a bit similar but I think far superior got unfortunately largely overlooked. You star as a guy who is stranded in an arctic base during a nasty storm who must work to return home while in communication with someone at a nearby base. Has some light gameplay in its survival elements from the cold and weather, but its strong suits are its phenomenal atmosphere, art direction, and writing. It has maybe one of the best endings to a game I've experienced all year.


Jeez, even though I didn't play even half the horror games released this year, this was a GREAT year for experimental indie horror. Some honorable mentions I did play:

Dead Secret
Dead End Road
Through The Woods
Left Alone
The Survey
Mad Father

And there's some I really need to play, like Yomonawi and Last Door Season 2 (season 1 was amazing and underlooked).
 
AdanVC said:
This year was awful to me in terms of gaming because, well, I didn't bought a single new game this year! So I will list only the single new game I played this year and is my personal GOTY and that game is:

1. Pokémon Go ; Been playing this game since July and I thought I would be part of the crowd that was only playing it because it was the boom back in summer. But as I continue playing, I found myself even more hooked into the game, literally just for trying to be the very best like no one ever was (lmao I know, I know, lame af) I tend to walk a lot so this game was perfect to me, it gave me another reason to keep walking even more. The software itself I gotta say, SUCKS pretty badly. It's filled with bugs, and tons of essential features missing like a find box to quickly search certain Pokémon on your bag and stuff like that, but as a concept and game experience, this is where the game excels above the rest. It truly feels I'm Red from the original Red/Blue games exploring my surroundings to catch Pokémon.

This game is my GOTY because I've experienced so many awesome and memorable moments with it, meeting new places in my city and meeting tons of cool people too! This game is the perfect conversation starter and that helped me to overcome my social anxiety. I could reach any person playing it and everyone would talk back to me with the same entusiasm. No other game has achieved that like Pokémon Go and that is why I'm grateful for it and it's my GOTY. I still can't believe a mobile game is my GOTY but there :)
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Damn, only one game? Is it because nothing interested you or...? Sincerely curious since there seemed to be a very wide variety of games released this year.
 
Shoot, this was mostly a RTTP year for me, this is gonna be rough...

1. Overwatch ; Although I've sort of fallen off the game, I can't deny that the hundreds of hours I put into it were a total blast. Absolute mastercraft in multiplayer fun.

2. Hitman ; the king has returned. The elusive contracts and episodic nature of the game shake things up - and for the better. And probably my favorite part of the game is that it doesn't break it's own rules; everything follows a strict code of conduct, with no random chance. It's difficult to explain, but the game really brings out the hidden potential of all stealth games: improvisation.

3. Street Fighter V ; I absolutely love the new changes to the combo system. Getting rid of the stupid 1 frame links was a godsend for more casual players like me. The new characters are great and the story mode was shockingly not completely terrible. Throw all that together and you've got the hottest fighting game on the market.

4. Furi ; Excellent combat that syncs with the incredible music for some of the most memorable boss fights in gaming. The music is really, really good. Did I mention the music was good?

5. Titanfall 2 ; combined a shockingly good single player campaign with the fast paced exhilarating multiplayer and you get a fantastic shooter.

6. Zero Escape: Time Dilemma ; Yes, it was disappointing all thing considered, but it still delivered when it came to twists and characters (except Q team). Maybe it was because my expectations were set extremely low but overall it was a somewhat satisfying conclusion to the zero escape franchise, a series which is still better than most other puzzle games out there.

7. Pony Island ; not much I can say about this without ruining it, but it delivers when it comes to meta-commentary in a similar fashion to undertale (although nowhere near as well).
 
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; The best game I've played this year. Only second to Bloodborne for my GOTG. The story was the best in the series and the game overall was one hell of an experience for me.
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2. The Last Guardian ; Had to make an edit and say this game did what no other game did this year and that is it brought tears to my eyes. The story about Trico and a little boy going on this journey is something I won't be forgetting for a very long time. One hell of a game aside from the camera and bad frame rate. This makes my second spot.
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3. INSIDE ; Wasn't a fan of Playdead but after playing this for the first time of the Xbox One......WOW. What a masterpiece of a game. I still hated that ending though.
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4. Dark Souls 3 ; It wasn't Bloodborne in terms of impact for me but overall it was still a big game in terms of scale which was absolutely amazing.
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5. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine ; Great send off to Geralt's story that almost left me tearing up that it was over.
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6. Doom ; Best action game that I've experienced in 2016. Just nonestop gameplay which in the end though left the story very forgettable.
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7. Ratchet & Clank ; My oh my, pixar graphics in a video game never looked so good. Also, gameplay felt classic yet refreshing at the same time.
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8. The Division ; I thought this game was way overhyped for it's own good but after playing it back in March, I actually had a great time with this. Playing this with friends makes the experience that much better.
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9. Mafia 3 ; Story wise was actually good. The AI though was extremely bad and the world was extremely boring, but only thanks to the incredible acting and it's story it made my list.
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1. The Witness ; Everyone has a genre that they're so in tune with that they can tell the difference between a bad game and a good one, and others they can't. For me, I don't understand what makes one FPS game good while another game is bad, unless it's very very apparent. Give me two similar FPS games and I wouldn't have any idea how to tell you which was better. But puzzles are "my genre," and if you gave me ten similar games I could tell you precisely which games were better than others to a great degree of accuracy. This can be a blessing and a curse. It means that acclaimed games like Captain Toad and Picross 3D just don't resonate with me because I can see that they're not very good where other people for whom puzzle games are not "their genre" will get huge amounts of enjoyment from them. It just creates situations where there are games I badly want to enjoy, but can't, however much I will it. At the same time, though, it means that when a game like The Witness comes along, I can really appreciate how incredible it is, and how rare it is for a game to achieve what it does.

What The Witness does is create a world largely without words in which mechanics are taught to the player in such an organic way that anyone can pick up the rules of the game if only they pay attention to what's happening in the world around them. It sounds like such a simple achievement but the only game I can actually think of that manages to replicate this feat is Toki Tori 2 - it's not as simple as you'd think, especially when your mechanics are as deceptively complex as those in The Witness. Sure, it's all "just line puzzles" but there are so many variations in the rules that the game has to communicate that the fact it does so so successfully is as great an achievement as the fact that the puzzles are simply so fun, and so interesting to solve from the beginning to the end of the game.

And then there's all the other things the game does with the world around you, which anyone who has played the game will be aware of and which to talk about any further will be unfair to anyone who yet hasn't. It was released in January this year and had so much time in which its crown of "game of the year" could have been snatched away, but in truth nothing really came close.
2. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; Probably my second favourite Rhythm Game series behind Rock Band (pre-4) and this compilation ticks all the boxes. Story mode was a total drag, but the songs and the gameplay still totally do it for me.
3. Dragon Quest VII ; The retro JRPG I needed this year.
4. Lumo ; An isometric puzzle game with some light puzzling, a perfect throwback to a more innocent time of gaming. Not without its flaws, but the positives far outweigh them.
5. Trackmania Turbo
6. DIRT Rally
7. 10 Second Ninja X
8. Downwell
 
1. Inside ; I've never seen a story told so effortlessly in a game. Limbo had a beautiful style, but was always overly-simplistic. Inside manages to up the atmosphere and nail the gameplay.
2. The Witness ; I expected this game to be overly simplistic based on the first few puzzles. Sat it down, and didn't pick it up again for a long time. I'm so glad I gave it a second chance. The core puzzle constraints don't change, and that works to the games advantage. The environment changes the gameplay. I have never felt so challenged and rewarded in a puzzle game. The story is done in unique way that feels appropriate to the game (cryptic as shit). Sometimes the story feels like it gets too philosophically on the nose with some of the audio logs. That doesn't detract from the wonderful theme that the gameplay matches with perfectly. I didn't think I'd think one game with absurd themes would make my list this year, let alone two.
3. Overwatch ; Bought the game twice. On PS4 and PC. After playing shooters that have a selfish attitude for years, it was one of the most refreshing games I've played.
4. Doom ; The biggest surprise. Guns, movement, tone, over-the-top gore made it akin to Wolfenstein's revival. Makes you feel like a bad-ass.
5. Titanfall 2 ; Gen 6 or 7. Bounty Hunt will be the closest thing I can get to Killzone's Warzone. The learning curve was frustrating. Once I got maps, movement, and Scorch down, it was just fluid joy. I think I might like jumping around more than shooting.
6. SUPERHOT ; I describe this game as a puzzle-FPS. Something unique. I hope they can take the concept and expand it into something larger in the future.
7. Firewatch ; Best walking sim. JK. As someone who has tried to find solace in nature, only to find demons that follow me, the story relates to me on some level I can't describe.
8. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Fitting end to the series. Would've ranked higher if it wasn't for the somewhat anti-climatic climax, and going on for too long.
9. Rez Infinite ; Only VR game I enjoy. Sublime music.
10. Let It Die ; I love weird. This game is weird.

X. Pokemon GO

Thanks for putting this together every year. You guys are awesome.

My ballot may change as I play through The Last Guardian, Dishonored 2, This Dragon, Cancer, and ABZU.
 
I loved this year on gaming.

I loved this year on gaming.

1. Overwatch; This is a reminder that my favorite games are the ones that make me lose the perception of time while giving me fun. This game is a proof of that. (Blizzard Entertainment - PS4, XBO, PC)

2. Dark Souls III; This was a close second, it also made me lose perception of time, but it's a little shorter than other Souls games. Still, the best of the series so far and a testament of how hard games should be made.(From Software / Namco Bandai - PS4, XBO, PC)

3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End; The closing of the Nate saga, I loved it, if the multiplayer were better I would have called it GOTY, but the story, the way ND can create a great one, it's magic.(Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive - PS4)

4. INSIDE; They did it again!, first with Limbo that gave us that sense of darkness and fear, and now they grabbed the formula, renew it with paranoia and that fear of getting caught, and great story without giving us words and we have this. (Playdead - PS4, XBO, PC)

5. Final Fantasy XV; Best open world of the year, enough said, the story made sense but it was shorter than the avg FF, but it has TONS of side-quests, so you will not get bored while playing this game. (Square-Enix - PS4, XBO)

6. Battlefield 1; This is it, they did it, a Battlefield that makes me want to play again and again, I like this one because of how they treat the stories so well, and the multiplayer is just crazy. (DICE / EA - PS4, XBO, PC)

7. Dishonored 2; The sequel just grabs everything Dishonored brought but raised to 11, even better than the original and it's replayability is great. (Arkane Studios / Bethesda - PS4, XBO, PC)

8. Pokémon Sun and Moon; Heyyyyy, it's dat game, it's ya boy Jano telling ya'll that you should get the best Pokémon since B/W2, it feels great, the Z moves make sense, the competitive side will be fun, but I still feel that this is not the complete game and we gotta wait for the Switch.(GameFreak / Nintendo - 3DS)

9. The Last Guardian; first of all, this is not the best game of the year even if you cried at the end, but it's a gorgeous one, it has frustrating mechanics sometimes but the story and all it brings to the table just gets to forget those bad tastes. Play it, it's not Shadow of the Colossus, it's not ICO, but it bring its own signature.(GENdesign / Sony Interactive - PS4)

10. Watch Dogs 2; Second best open world of the year, San Francisco it's almost 1x1, and the game feels more fun than the first one, it's just amazing they took all the bad feedback from the original and improved on it, they gave us a main character with personality, they also gave us Wrench who is top 2 of the best characters of the year tied with Uncle Death from 'Let it Die'. Have fun hacking. (Ubisoft Montreal / Ubisoft - PS4, XBO, PC)


Honorable mentions:
x. Titanfall 2 (Respawn Entertainment / EA - PS4, XBO, PC)
x. Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems / Nintendo - 3DS)
x. Let it Die (Grasshopper Manufacture / GungHo - PS4)
x. Super Mario Run (DeNA / Nintendo - iOS)
x. Pokémon GO (Niantic / The Pokémon Company - iOS, Android)
x. Doom (id Software / Bethesda - PS4, XBO, PC)
 
1. Final Fantasy XV ; loved the combat, loved the world, loved the soundtrack. Story was fine for me. Played 80+ hours in less than 10 days, it's just insane for me but I really couldn't stop playing.
2. Uncharted 4 ; this is the perfect ending to one of the greatest series I have ever played. Nathan is great.
3. World of Final Fantasy ; a nice surprise. I didn't expect this game to be so good. The-World of the-Final the-Fantasy!
4. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; it's Pokémon. A really good game, but overall I expected more. Maybe I was too hyped.
 
1. The Last Guardian ; Game of the generation for me, it moved me to my core! Trico is such a sweet animal, it feels alive every single moment of the game. The boy was freaking cute too, his mannerisms and the way he reacted to the environment was magnificient. The Last Guardian is an experience that must the played if you own a PS4.

Needless to say, the ending was beautiful. A true masterpiece.

2. FINAL FANTASY XV ; though the story felt flat at times due to rush, the game is absolutely great, the gameplay is addictive and its secrets even more so. The ending was among my favorites of the year.
 
1. Overwatch; The game that made me love online shooters again. Ima huge fan of being able to see the work devs put into a game an this game just screams love letter to the genre.
2. Battlefield 1; I've hated battlefield 3/4/hardline so I went into this without much faith. It reaches # 2 on my list for not only turning me around on the franchise but making me love it more that I ever thought possible. Bonus points for making a WW1 game in 2016.
3.Mafia 3; Black protagonist dealing with racism and corruption set to a 60s soul/classic rock soundtrack. It's literally a game I've dreamt about. I didn't mind that it was slightly repetitive because I enjoyed the gunplay more than any open world game I've played.
4.Final Fantasy XV; The best combat in a JRPG in 10+ years, maybe ever. That combined with interesting characters and amazing graphics made this my 3rd favorite final fantasy of all time.
5. Uncharted 4: A thiefs end; The fitting end to one of the best series in gaming. Humanized the characters for me way more than any game I've ever played besides the last of us.
6.Dark souls 3; The natural progression of this amazing series. Takes ds 1 and throws in a decent pinch of bloodborne. The results are pure greatness.
7. Batman: The Telltale Series; That's right I said it! This game is literally the only time I've liked Bruce Wayne in a video game. The way they aren't afraid to deviate from the more well known version of characters is bold and refreshing.
8.Tom Clancy's The Division; Some of the best co op fun I've had in years. Amazing graphics with good gunplay mixed with an interesting premise puts this on my list.
9. The banner saga; as a huge fan of final fantasy tactics I've played dozens of grid based tactical games in my attempt to find that same high. While it didn't reach those heights it still turned out to be a pretty great game with a interesting mature take on the genre.
10.Destiny: Rise of Iron; the ending of the first game in one of my favorite ip's this gen. Added an interesting raid which left out tons of stupid first person platforming which I hate in past raids. Also flame war hammers y'all.

Also it's funny how many ppl simultaneously don't read the op and think their opinion is so important it absolutely needs to be posted as soon as possible an they will just fill it out later. Like why not just wait until u have thought it out?? There is literally no point to go about this any other way. Let's me know who to ignore in the future tho because reading is too hard for them 🤷🏿.
 
1. The Witness ; Game was everything I had hoped and dreamed for. Mind expanding. Masterful. Enlightening. Beauteousss. Still haven't completed, but possibly my #1 all-timer.

2. INSIDE ; Incredible sound design. Less difficult than Limbo, yet just as satisfying experience. Incredibly fluid animations. Polished as fuck. Perfect pacing.
 
1. Overwatch

My most played game this year by far. Really fills the TF2 sized hole in my heart. The extra content and festivities that Blizzard adds are amazing. The games are fast paced and don't feel like they drag out too long.

2. Pokemon Sun/Moon

This game finally nails down the "bros going on adventure" theme that Game Freak has been trying to get since Black and White. A huge step up from the disappointing gen VI. A good post game would knock this up to number 1, alas the battle tree just doesnt have much going for it.

3. Dragon Quest VII

4. Civilization VI

5. Watch Dogs 2

6. Final Fantasy XV

7. Uncharted 4

8. Street Fighter 5

9. Fire Emblem Fates

10. Far Cry Primal
 
1. The Witness ; Is perfection. In this serene yet eerie world I found myself a paradise of intellectual stimulation. The Witness spoke to me, constantly, mostly in not so many words, elegantly teaching me its language. Every step the player takes, everything the player sees, absolutely everything in this game is designed to a tee. It even lets you in on its design philosophy, asking you to ponder questions, to engage with and connect everything it throws at you. You discover more and more mechanics, the layers keep peeling back and it never managed to lose an ounce of appeal for me. From the first screen until the very end, I loved it. It also gets the top spot for including the single greatest moment of discovery in a videogame, which changes completely how I viewed the world I was in – a realisation that any player may encounter at any point of their individual playthrough. Most impressed I was by a game this year.

2. The Last Guardian ; Another one that blew my mind and a very hard decision between this and number one. I don't even feel the need to articulate why TLG is a masterpiece. It speaks for itself, visually and with a design that respects the player, not one that turns him into a mindless drone. TLG is as vibrant and alive as its two protagonists are and I just want to express how happy I am that Ueda finished it and that Sony let him. Thank you so much for this.

3. Let It Die ; A nod to Grasshopper for giving a gift. Here gamers, have this pretty complex roguelite with all the whacky shit you love from us in it, for free. Very smart move to spread awareness of the studio and also very surprisingly great game. Moved it up after having played a lot more of it. It's just so full of systems that hook me without ever making me feel like I have to spend money. So good.

4. Furi ; Gets this high based on how surprised I was that a premise this basic could envoke so much. Its tight focus on doing a few things very right instead of adding a whole lot of padding to give the player more hours and watering down the experience was the right approach. Most fun I had with a combat system this year.

5. Dark Souls III ; After the knockout success that Bloodborne was for me, DS3 didn't move mountains, but it did improve immensely on DS2. Definitely the greatest environments of the Dark Souls series and some of my favorite boss fights of them all. Epic journey and a worthy conclusion to a legendary trilogy.

6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Is on here mostly for its storytelling which I felt was quite a few steps up from previous entries. Very enjoyable game overall.

7. Doom ; For the fun I had in Multiplayer, especially post patches and free content updates. Really undeserved hatred. Nothing feels quite like it on console.

8. No Man's Sky ; My chillout game. Put a lot of hours in.
 
Cheesemeister said:
No, unauthorized use of unowned IP is ineligible. Sorry.
Click to expand...
Unfortunate since AM2R was also my goty, but I understand it's a touchy subject.

Just wondering, what's the legality behind owning/playing a copy of a fan game that's been removed due to a C&D order? Couldn't really find anything in a quick google search.
 
wild wild rice said:
Damn, only one game? Is it because nothing interested you or...? Sincerely curious since there seemed to be a very wide variety of games released this year.
Click to expand...

Yeah :( it's kinda sad I only played a single game this year considering the amount and variety of great games launched this year but unfortunately, I only own a Wii U and 3DS (But it's been like 2 years since the last time I played 3DS! I'm not into handhelds anymore) and pretty much none of the games released for those systems this year attracted me enough to get them. Lot's of good JRPGs released though but not a fan of that genre mostly because there's no time to play them properly, hah. There's a lot of games I would love to play such as Doom, Overwatch and FFXV but I'm screwed since I only own Nintendo devices... Never again!! Next year will save to get a proper PC or a PS4 or something (among Nintendo Switch of course) Because waiting 3, 4, 5, sometimes 6 months between each worthy Nintendo game with zero third party stuff to play in the meantime sucks! :(
 
1. Doom; easily the most fun fps ever in singleplayer. Nintendo level polish and so satisfying gameplay loop. Also lovely art design. Dont really need the, quite ok, multiplayer part
2. Dark Souls III; Best souls game mechanically even though the world does not quite live up to ds1 imo. Overall it is probably the best souls though
3. Stellaris; the best 4x in space. Sci fi - the game. Just amazing systems and i have not even tried the dlc yet. Really like that the ai can actually cooperate unlike civ
4. Civilization VI; Best civ game already. Just wish the ai was better, still a great game
5. XCOM 2; even better than the first one
6. Uncharted 4; finally varied gameplay and story + setting is best in the series
7. The Witness; unique amazing game. Nothing quite like it
8. The Last Guardian; way better than i expected.
9. House of the dying sun; had there been more content this could have been number one.
10. Stardew valley; pick up and play harvest moon
 
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1. Life is Strange ; Probably my favorite game of all time. Story-focused games with choices and consequences have been a thing for quite a while, but LiS' time travel mechanic adds a
much needed twist on the formula. The mechanic allows you to try out several choices and see what their short-term effect is without being able to determine its
long-term influence. Having a bit more control over your actions is a refreshing and really makes the game stand out.

The game also offers a great story, with characters that you really get invested in. A game has never made me cry before, but this made me bawl my eyes out several
times. People have complained about how the final choice is bad, but I personally feel very happy (well...) about it and the choice I made.

LiS has some issues like occasional awkward writing, stereotypical characters and bad lip-syncing, but if you can look past that there's an amazing game that is
definitely worth checking out if you're into games that focus primarily on story and characters.

Bae >


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2. Inside ; While it initially looks like just another Limbo you quickly find out that the developers have improved and expanded upon all the great things about that game. The
beginning as a lot of tense gameplay that sets the tone for the game and universe. Then as you progress through the game's many simple, but often clever puzzles you
find your way to the end sequence which is possibly one of the weirdest, amazing and at the same time disturbing things I've seen and played in a game.


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3. Oxenfree ; Another game that primarily focuses on the story and characters. The main thing that sets Oxenfree apart for me is its very natural writing and voice acting along with its
very smooth conversation system. You can keep walking around and doing acting while you have conversations with other characters which means that the pace of the
game is very well managed. You can interrupt other characters or just say nothing, it all works very smoothly and feels very natural.

The story is a bit weird and confusing at times, but the acting and dialogue is really great. A lot of the time it just sounds a bunch of people talking. Not every sentence is
insanely deep or dramatic, not every sentence is exposition put in there because the players needs to know X, Y and Z. It's just people having a conversation like
people do. This is something I miss in a lot of games these days and it's incredibly refreshing to see.


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4. Firewatch ; Natural dialogue is also the strongest part of Firewatch. Mechanically it's similar to Oxenfree; you walk around an area while you talk to someone on your walkie-talkie.
The relationship that you build up throughout the game with the character you're talking to is really well portrayed and just feels very real and authentic. The game is
also absolutely stunning. It's like walking through a painting at times, really great stuff.


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5. Dark Souls III ; There's not much to say about Dark Souls III. It's basicaly the polar opposite of the other game's I've listed to far. Focus is almost 100% on gameplay and it does what it
tries to do tremendously. It feels like a mix between Dark Souls and Bloodborne. It has the speed of BB and the versatility of a DS game. Best game in the series.


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6. DOOM ; A return to a shooter that focuses purely on gameplay. It's so smooth, responsive and fast which is something that's been missing from shooters for a long time now. No
scripted, cinematic shooter where you hide behind a piece of cover. Nope, you enter an arena and start running and jumping around while killing tons of demons. It's
simple, but it works amazingly well. It does get a bit repetitive and predictable toward the end, but it's still nice to see developers going back to oldschool-style shooters.


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7. Hyper Light Drifter ; I know this comparison gets made often, but this is basically a 2D Dark Souls. Very punishing, but fair and very satisfying and rewarding. Not much focus on the story,
but there doesn't have to be. It has very simple and tight controls which allow for very smooth gameplay. This is good because trying to fight the enemies can already
be hard enough on its own.


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8. Dragon's Dogma ; It has a lot of faults, but its gameplay is really solid. Being able to climb on top of big enemies and crawl around on them is very unique and that's what made this game
memorable for me. I think the entire system around your companions is also very interesting, and I hope that if there's ever going to be another DD game they expand
on that.


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9. F1 2016 ; I recently got back into Formula 1 so I had to give this a try. It's a bit hard to do higher difficulty races with just a controller, but it's still awesome being on track racing at
hundreds of kilometers per hour and knowing that any tiny mistake can ruin an entire race. The attention to detail is also amazing, you don't have to bother with a lot of
smaller mechanics and features, but it's great that it's there for the hardcore fans.


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10. Overwatch ; I never fully got into it because CS:GO is still my number one multiplayer game, but I can definitely see how well it's made. The artstyle and animations are unmatched
and the sheer variety of characters and their abilities really makes Overwatch a very unique shooter.
 
1. Dark Souls III ; Might not be the best 'souls' game, but still good enough to win Game of the Year.
2. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Naughty Dog continues to be on top of their game.
3. Inside ; I didn't think they could outdo Limbo, they did and then some.
4. Enter the Gungeon ; My pick up and play goty, with a ton of gun and item variety.
5. Gears of War 4 ; A solid return for the series, although I miss the older characters.
6. Destiny: Rise of Iron ; There's always time for more Destiny.
7. Doom ; I didn't like it as much as other people, but still a solid action game.
8. Let it Die ; The surprise of the year.
9. The Division ; Solid but not spectacular.
10. Darkest Dungeon ; Love the narration. Very unique game.

Honorable Mentions
x. The Gallery - Episode One: Call of the Starseed ; My favorite VR game this year, looking forward to seeing this genre grow next year.
x. The Lab ; A good intro to what VR is all about.
 
1. Uncharted 4 ; Fantastic final battle. Best graphics I've ever seen in my life. Very well constructed narrative.

2. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; More of human revolution and that's all I needed.
 
Man I liked a lot of games this year but nothing that jumps in my mind for some reason

nevertheless I'll try

1. Pokémon Moon ; The freshest game on my mind right now, so it has that advantage. It's an excellent pokemon game. Can't wait for the switch version!
2. Tyranny ; True surprise of the year for me, I much preferred it to the higher profile Pillars of Eternity, compelling universe and characters, better writing.
3. Dark Souls 3 ; it's a souls game, not my favorite one but it's still great so it goes on the list.
4. Hitman ; I can't say this is my type of game very much, but it was done expertly so kudos.
5. Ratchet and Clank ; a very good game, I highly recommend it, but I guess the remake part of it kind stops me from rating this higher.
6. Fire Emblem Fates : Conquest ; forgot it came out this year, loved it, but Conquest was just much better than Birthright .
7. Batman the Telltale Series ; gonna finish it later in the week but so far I like what it's doing.
8. Bravely Second ; Your thoughts on Game H.
9. Witcher 3 Blood and Wine ; Your thoughts on Game I.
10. Phoenix Wright Spirit of Justice ; Your thoughts on Game J.
 
I noticed that Halo 5: Forge wasn't on the spreadsheet. I know that it's a lite version of the game, but if ports like Rise of the Tomb Raider can be counted I think it should too.

I wanted to mention it just in case it was an oversight.
 
1. Overwatch ; My first MP FPS... 300h spent playing and counting. Do i need to say more? Never expected anything from it, but after playing the Beta, i pre-ordered it and i think that it's one of my best gaming purchases ever. Love this game like it's day 1, it never gets boring and it ended up being my GOTY.
L9mWdLC.jpg


2. Rise of the Tomb Raider (PC) ; I am big TR fan and i am big fan of TR reboot from 2013, but with ROTTR CD did amazing job improving almost everything. Game is beautiful, gameplay is fun, story is interesting enough and i think that this is the best Lara ever. Can't wait for next game to be announced.
NHuRbrD.jpg


3. Severed ; Everything about this amazing piece of art is what i love in games! It's little creepy, it's fun, it has great soundtrack and atmosphere. This is must play for Vita, Wii U, 3DS and iOS players!
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4. INSIDE ; Limbo was amazing, but this one is even better. Amazing experience with great atmosphere, audio and story. Playdead did it again!
iqjJiCK.jpg


5. SUPERHOT ; Had so much fun playing this game, and it ended up being one of the best games for me this year. It's different, it's fresh and it's sooo much fun!
v3iiHYD.png
 
1. Dishonored 2 ; Every facet of Dishonored’s brand of supernatural stealth action has been pushed to even greater heights in this sequel. I had an incredible time whether I was stealthily achieving my objectives undetected or slaughtering enemies head-on as if it were an action game. That's a testament to the game’s polished stealth and combat mechanics, as well as the most elaborate level design I’ve ever seen in a game. Every mission is quality, with some featuring truly outstanding mechanics that every gamer owes themselves to experience. And as if the gameplay and level design weren’t enthralling enough, the art direction is absolutely stunning.

2. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; Nothing immerses me in a world quite like the Deus Ex series does, and Mankind Divided successfully maintains that quality, giving me almost unrestricted freedom to explore and experiment in the densely rich sandbox of Prague. Even if the main plot didn't fully deliver, there were plenty of interesting stories to be discovered by digging into the game’s substantial side content.

3. Dark Souls III ; Dark Souls III is the most refined iteration of the Souls series, with even more polished combat and engaging encounter design than ever before. It has my favorite gallery of enemies and bosses of any game I’ve ever played.

4. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun ; Best surprise of 2016 for me. Incredible real-time stealth tactics game that demands player creativity and razor-sharp execution to overcome extremely formidable odds. Methodically peeling away the layers of each masterfully-crafted level with my team of ninja/samurai/sniper specialists was among the most satisfying experiences I've ever had with a game.

5. Stardew Valley ; Not since Harvest Moon 64 has a game sucked me into spending so many hours of my life living a virtual one. The fact that one person created by far the best game of its kind is an amazing achievement.

6. Darkest Dungeon ; Surviving the Lovecraftian horrors of this merciless strategy RPG/dungeon crawler was among my most challenging and intense experiences of the year. The excellent turn-based combat and stylish presentation propelled me through to the end.

7. Inside ; Inside weaves elegant puzzle platforming into an intriguing nonverbal narrative that ends with a bang. Seriously, the finale of Inside is a strong contender for Best Moment of 2016, but everything leading up to it is also superb.

8. Overwatch ; I’ve tried playing the heavy hitters in the online competitive shooter space, but it wasn’t until Overwatch came along that a game made me feel compelled to keep coming back for more. I appreciate that I don’t necessarily have to be the most mechanically skilled at shooting to have fun since the game’s roster of heroes offers a variety of ways for players to contribute to their team.

9. Hitman ; An entertaining stealth murder simulator whether I’m assassinating targets myself or watching other players engage in hijinks. The episodic structure worked in the game's favor thanks to highly replayable level design and the innovative Elusive Targets, which more games should try to emulate.

10. DOOM ; In a year filled with shooters that offered noteworthy single-player experiences, none were more outstanding to me than DOOM’s return to form. It simultaneously captures and modernizes what made DOOM so appealing in the first place. Turns out slaying demons at breakneck speed could still be lots of fun in the year 2016.

Honorable Mentions
x. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; My first exposure to the series. What a treat.
x. Pokémon Moon ; Features my favorite soundtrack of the year. <3 Mimikyu.
x. Firewatch ; Some of the most grounded, believable interactions between two video game characters.
x. Orwell ; Intriguing mystery adventure game with some clever investigative mechanics and a satisfying story.
 
NeoRaider said:
1. Overwatch - My first MP FPS... 300h spent playing and counting. Do i need to say more? Never expected anything from it, but after playing the Beta, i pre-ordered it and i think that it's one of my best gaming purchases ever. Love this game like it's day 1, it never gets boring and it ended up being my GOTY.
L9mWdLC.jpg


2. Rise of the Tomb Raider (PC) - I am big TR fan and i am big fan of TR reboot from 2013, but with ROTTR CD did amazing job improving almost everything. Game is beautiful, gameplay is fun, story is interesting enough and i think that this is the best Lara ever. Can't wait for next game to be announced.
NHuRbrD.jpg


3. Severed - Everything about this amazing piece of art is what i love in games! It's little creepy, it's fun, it has great soundtrack and atmosphere. This is must play for Vita, Wii U, 3DS and iOS players!
4lG2Tvf.png


4. INSIDE - Limbo was amazing, but this one is even better. Amazing experience with great atmosphere, audio and story. Playdead did it again!
iqjJiCK.jpg


5. SUPERHOT - Had so much fun playing this game, and it ended up being one of the best games for me this year. It's different, it's fresh and it's sooo much fun!
v3iiHYD.png
Click to expand...

Just some advice: use a semi colon instead of a dash otherwise it's not counted (look at OP).
 
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