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[bak4fun]

One day I'll have the time to do a pretty list with better writing than a few words thrown together at the last minute..... or at least, I'll try. One day....

Anyway, I think it was a great year for video games, I wish I had played (and finished more games), but even if I have a lot of games I still have to play from 2016 I could almost have done a top 20 with games that I liked this year. I don't consider all of them good games and I certainly won't recommend them to everyone but here are the games from 2016 that I personally liked a lot.


1. Hitman ; Hitman is the gift that keeps on giving, from the first time you play a mission for the first time, where I thoroughly enjoy the exploration of the vast map and the discovery of the systems that compose the clockwork that is the environment, to the following playhrough where your knowledge of the mission let you experiment more the different ways to attain your goal. It's also one of the funniest game and that makes it great to watch.

2. Thumper ; It begins loud and fast and it gets louder, faster, crazier. It's one of the best rhythm game ever. Play it in VR if you can.

3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Naughty dogs are still one of the best studio at what they do. The game is beautifull, I liked the character and the story. At that point in the serie, everyone should know if they enjoy uncharted, it's more uncharted and for me it's a really good thing.

4. Final Fantasy XV ; as many people have said this game is kind of a mess. But it's a beautiful mess that is so enjoyable.

5. Let It Die ; It's funny, it's stupid, it has a killer soundtrack, it plays well, it's free and totally playable without paying it's also a huge grind.

6. Street Fighter V ; I think I like the fundamental of SFV better than SFIV, it's a really good fighting game at the core and as someone that almost only plays local versus, I really enjoy my time with it

7. Tom Clancy's The Division ; I had a good time with the division, a bit mindless, but a perfect game to just kill shit with some friends after a shitty day at work. I should try the new survival mode as it looks great.

8. No Man's Sky ; No Man's Sky is not a good game and it can be boring if you play it like a game. But I liked being lost in this galaxy, and feeling small and pointless, it's relaxing.

9. Mafia III ; If only Mafia III could be more like its first 2 hours, it lost me a bit with the repetitive tasks in the open world. But it is worth it if only for these 2 hours and the characters and story.

10. Picross 3D: Round 2 ; I have a lot of issue with this version of picross, the pacing, the difficulty curve, and the difficulty in general, basically it's too easy and the progression is not going from easy to difficult. I want harder puzzle the more I play not easy one at the end.... Still It's more picross 3D and that is good.


x. Alienation ; shoot aliens, get loot, shoot more aliens, get more loot. It's simple and as always with housemarque it felt great
x. Titanfall 2 ; The best playing FPS? Maybe, it felt really good to play. Weirdly, I didn't really like the campaign, it was ok.
x. Doom ; If this game is not part of my top ten, it's entirely my fault, I like Doom a lot, so much so that I tried to collect everything, the first time through a mission, it killed the pacing and I burned out. I came back much later and ignored most of the collectables, it was a much better experience but it was a bit too late.
x. Dark Souls III ; More Dark Souls, it's really good, still I prefer bloodborne.
x. Ratchet & Clank ; Beautiful game, playing well, a return to a great Ratchet & Clank game. Could we get a new one rather than a remake?

 

[gloriousd]

1. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine ; DLC winning my personal game of the year? Yes, yes indeed. Why? Because it could have been a separate game and it would still be the best RPG of the year. Fantastic closure to Geralt's story. Improvements across the board to all mechanics and technical aspects of the game. Beautiful and unique soundtrack, fun gameplay (yes, I said that), engaging storyline, fun sidequests. What's not to like?
2. Forza Horizon 3 ; Best racing game of the year, perhaps even of the generation. Fantastic visuals, diverse map, excellent selection of cars and as per usual unmatched in this category of racing games driving mechanics – arcadey but demanding, leagues and leagues above NFS and other contemporary rivals.
3. Overwatch ; Probably my most played game of this year. Why only no. 3 then? While the game itself is absolutely fantastic (diverse roster of characters, insane levels of Blizzard polish, low point of entry but high skill ceiling, fun and engaging gameplay) the amount of content is just small. Few maps and a limited number of game types. Don't get me wrong, this is the game I will be playing for years to come (because it will be improved and the amount of content will increase, see Diablo 3 and other Blizzard games) but as of now it's ”only" no. 3.
4. Doom ; I was sceptical about this game, but then I played it and phew! Super solid gameplay, great map design, fantastic soundtrack... I also liked how the game didn't take itself too seriously. Best single player shooter of the year.
5. Oxenfree ; I'm still in the process of playing this gem (NG+ is essential), so potentially it could go up or down on the list, but not significantly, therefore I decided to put it here as I have completed it once. Simple but very effective story, exceptionally well written dialogues, pretty to look at and the soundtrack compliments the atmosphere of the game perfectly. Highly recommended little game.
6. Ratchet & Clank ; Interactive cartoon. I mean, what's there to add? It was funny, engaging and absolutely beautiful, a real joy to play too!
7. Furi ; My biggest surprise of the year. I wouldn't have played it if not for PS+. Incredibly satisfying gameplay, endorphin rush after defeating a boss comparable to Dark Souls, fantastic (and I mean it) soundtrack.
8. Tom Clancy's The Division ; It could have been so much more, but what is there is enough to ensure hours upon hours of gametime. Just be warned, contains sponges.
9. Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide ; Another surprising entry. When a friend told me there is a Left 4 Dead but set in the Warhammer universe, and that the game is actually great I didn't believe him. But now, after dozens of hours of gameplay I can even say I've had more fun than in L4D. If you like games like that and you haven't tried it, then you totally should.
10. Uncharted 4 ; My most anticipated game of the year barely made it to the list. Why? I am pretty sure everyone knows what this game does right and it's not a place to discuss what went wrong, so I'll just say that it didn't click with me.

 

[Soma]

1. Overwatch ; So many hours put into this game and yet I'm always finding new and interesting quirks of a character I hadn't given as much time to before. For such a seemingly simple type of game, there is so much depth to it that it has given me hours upon hours of enjoyment (and frustration sometimes too). Every character has charm and a fun playstyle and every level is a playground for those characters to run rampant in and it's a great experience every single time. There are some balance issues that the developers continually try to mitigate after every patch and a lot of my frustrations do come from other players but overall, I just can't see myself giving the #1 spot to another game that came out in 2016. It's polished, it has heart and it's just so damn fun.

2. VA-11 HALL-A ; The premise alone of assuming the role of a bartender in a cyberpunk world was enough to grab my attention and thankfully it managed to reach my expectations. There's some real good style in the art and soundtrack but the game really sunk its claws into me with the characters and writing. Many of the characters you meet and serve drinks to have some really interesting quirks and charms that it's really easy to feel yourself get involved in their stories and social lives. There's a pretty good variety in characters introduced and some just throw you in for a loop (especially a certain customer that came into the bar on Day 4) but the main character Jill manages to be my favorite because of how much I feel like I can relate to her and how she reacts to these weird folk that show up at her workplace. This game has a lot of heart and I'm glad that it exists.

3. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; Human Revolution was a fantastic return for this series and while Mankind Divided might feel a little same-y compared to its predecessor, I was more than happy to assume Adam Jensen's role again and see where his story goes next. The level design was fantastic as I expected and I really need to commend the art direction in this game. The level of detail in Prague and Golem City was astounding. While the main story didn't go as far as I would have liked, the really interesting stories inhabited a lot of the sidequests and many of them had some very interesting conclusions. I'm really excited to see where this series goes next and if the game design and level design manages to stay as strong as it has been for the past two games then the next one will be something to behold.

4. Battlefield 1 ; I've put an embarrassing amount of hours into this damn series. Ever since BF1942, I've been completely enamored with the huge sprawling landscapes that this series offers for multiplayer maps. I was a bit worried with how DICE would handle the tone of the World War I setting but I honestly feel like they handled it well for the most part. The singleplayer is the best campaign that the series has had in a long time and while that's not saying a lot, there are a few chapters that were surprisingly well-acted and compelling. The multiplayer has been outdone yet again. Most of the maps have been great to play (except for Suez and Sinai) and some of those maps have been the best the series has put out yet (Amiens, St. Quentin). The focus on the WWI setting has been great and while the transition to current-generation platforms

5. Pokemon Sun & Moon ; Possibly my favorite generation yet since Gen Five. This series of games mixes up the tried and true formula yet keeps it feeling familiar enough so that longstaying fans like myself don't feel entirely lost. The story is as lighthearted as ever and it uses that energy to its strengths, making this one of the most compelling main-story entries in years. The new characters introduced are incredibly charming, Team Skull are the most entertaining group of “villains” since the original Team Rocket, and the new additions to the Pokedex contain some of the most interesting entries to date.

6. Let it Die ; Probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. I, along with many others, just wanted whatever Lily Bergamo was going to be instead of this lame, try-hard violent game that I dismissed from that first trailer. I ended up giving this game a shot because "hell why not it's free right?" and after getting used to the somewhat janky controls, I fell in love with it. The game has a surprising amount of depth to it and it's stylish as all hell, especially couple with its ambitious soundtrack. Even though I wish it didn't have that F2P feel to it and was just a regular $60 game, I ended up having a lot of fun with it. I was wrong to doubt Suda51.

7. Dark Souls III ; At once a very familiar game with all the callbacks to previous games in the series but also taking many of those systems and crafting it into a very strong game that stands on its own. It manages to deliver some of the best environments the series has had yet with some of the best boss fights. It does feel very much like a “best of” of the series so far but I'm just glad it's better than Dark Souls II.

8. DOOM ; I've honestly only put in a few hours into this game so far and I can definitely tell where the hype comes from. Every encounter just feels so damn good to play that I almost never mind having to restart that area again if I die. The soundtrack is amusingly appropriate and fitting and the game itself is surprisingly gorgeous as well. It's always good to see a game that seemingly had overwhelming low expectations from many people before it launched and ended up so unanimously well received.

9. Final Fantasy XV ; This game has a lot of issues. Yet with all of the debacle with its development state, the transition to Versus to the game that it is now, the wonky demos, and the constant delays I'm still surprised that I managed to be as good as it is now. There are so many things weird about this game yet there are many moment-to-moment events that I can't help but go easy on it. The dialogue between the four main characters are great, they have a lot of charm. The battle system is fun if a bit finnicky with certain enemy types. The game is goddamn gorgeous and has a long way since the first Duscae demo. It's sad that the potential will never be fully realized and maybe the upcoming patches with smooth out the weird last third of the game but for what it is and what it came out of, it ended up being a really enjoyable game and I'm glad it finally came out.

10. ABZÛ ; The most calming game I played last year. I enjoyed Journey quite a bit and seeing the developers try their hand at a game with a heavy focus on the ocean and underwater creatures more than met my expectations.

 

[Dad]

Lots of pretty ballots, so here's my last minute, half-assed one

1. Overwatch ; The first multiplayer in nearly ten years to really get its hooks into me. My 150+ hour playtime is pretty modest compared to a lot of people voting for it here, but that is a lot for someone like me that barely ever sticks with a multiplayer game for more than ten hours or so.
2. The Last Guardian ;
3. Fire Emblem Fates ;
4. Pokemon Sun/Moon ;
5. The Witness ;
6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice ;
7. Firewatch ;
8. Ratchet & Clank ;
9. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ;
10. Final Fantasy XV ;

 

[Burnburn]

1. Let it Die ; The surprise of the year for me. My first impressions were bad, really bad. It looked like a generic mess that tried to cash in on all the blood and darkness the west was going for. So it kinda dropped of my radar since the first CG trailer. But then suddenly the PR motor started running and I stumbled upon some gameplay and it looked... a lot of fun! So I got hyped and well, downloaded and loved it. For a f2p title it doesn't feel like one at all. Maybe it's because I play safe, am part of the community and really got to know how this game works with other players. But I almost never have to use a death metal (Which is the paid currency that allows you to move on after a death) plus they hand out death metals pretty sporadically, which is very nice! Exploring the tower is fun, starting out prepared for whatever the game throws at you. Then slowly getting further in the tower, your armor starts to get weak, you run out of resources, enemies are getting harder and you desperately try to make you way back to the safe house. From that moment on every single battle can mean death which means every single battle matters and feels as tense as a boss battle. The atmosphere is great, the tower might be a bit repetitive at times, but it manages to switch up the environments JUST enough. Each and every character this game has makes you look a second time "is this really a character they put into this game?". Uncle Death is lovable, The Mushroom Lady has made me laugh a lot of times, Space Hitler is just weird and there's more silly and funny character. Though not every game comes without faults and this game is way too RNG heavy in some areas. You could say something like "well there the f2p mechanics come in", but you can't make the grinding and RNG easier with money. It just takes a lot of times to upgrade your stuff. Combat can be very janky at times and I wish there was an easier time to take out groups of more enemies than making them kill of each other. The PvP stuff is annoying too since I don't want people to profit of my hard work, get your own money slackers.

2. DOOM ; This game is fun, pure fun. It makes you feel like a demigod as you run around killing everything hell can throw at you. It provides enough to switch things up and enough side-mechanics that make playing a bit different possible.

3. SteinsGate 0 ; Honestly, the original SteinsGate was already the perfect closed loop, and it makes you wonder why they'd go for another game in the series which might make the perfect loop shaky and imperfect. But Zero offers a great addition to the story that I didn't expect to be as good as it is. The tone is very moody and dark and it fits very well with what is happening in the story at that moment. The game shows a side to the already established characters that we didn't see in the original and gives the characters a lot more depth. Where in the original setbacks happened, the cast always managed to stay positive, to get into actions and to never give up. But in zero, the characters show a side of giving up, depressions, not being able to deal with loss. We as humans all posses those two sides and it makes the characters that much more human. Aside from the over the top slice of life moment (which I really disliked in this game and felt like they dragged on too much) all these characters feel so very real to me.

4. Overwatch ; I have put a lot of time in this game and it's just a very fun game to play. It gives you that one more game feeling where once you start it's hard to stop because it's just so much fun. All heroes feel different in their own way and offer a nice change of pace. If you're just messing around in quick play where you can play any of the characters on your own leisure you can play game after game with a different character and each of those games feels different. In competitive the intensity of wanting to win is what makes it so great. But it can also be a con at the same time, it all depends on your team. Being able to clutch a game out because of amazing teamplay is such an amazing feeling. Getting that clutch special in when all things seemed lost is amazing too. Shout-outs to games that go to 6-5. Though I which the game was better balanced. Each balance patch tries to make the game fair and balanced, but they just never seem to be able to do it. I know it's hard to balance this many characters, but it seems like there's always one certain meta of character combos that is the best. Ana is always a must pick, then a offense heroes of the day combined with the 2 tanks that happen to be OP in current meta etc.

5. Fire Emblem Fates : Conquest ; The gameplay of this game is SO GOOD! It feels like a return to old Fire Emblem. I was really disappointed in Awakening's "Here's a square, rout the enemies" gameplay which never switched it up. But Birthright manages to switch it up very well, even too well at times! I really appreciated that almost every map seemed to have some sort of thing going on that you had to keep into mind strategy wise. They also revamped the pair up system for the better. Where in Awakening Pair up was basically "slash your units in half for OP super units and there was no downside for pairing up", in Conquest they changed this for the better. Now pairing up is more for protection of a character with some added benefits. This means that in Fates you once again have control over all your units instead of half of them. The story is absolute garbage, but quickly pressing a to get to the next map is an easy fix to the problem.

6. Overcooked ; Great co-op fun that brings a smile to your face. It's so simple to pick up, yet hard to master. Yelling at the people you play it with, getting confused because something went wrong and now people are yelling at you, it all happens without you noticing. You play this game and suddenly it's 2 hours later, you've called your friends every curse word you can imagine, you've had a shitload of fun and at the same time you're exhausted for some reason. Sometimes the UI can get in the way of things and you pick up the wrong stuff because of weird controls, but other than that a brilliant game!

7. VA-11 Hall-A ; Gameplay that made me fall asleep, a story I couldn't be bothered with, yeah VA-11 Hall-A was a disappointment to me. I know that it had some nice moments, but I can't remember them. I think with a little bit of exciting gameplay to change up the pace this game could've been a lot better already.

Games I wanted to play but didn't

x. Inside, widely praised, but was too lazy to pick it up
x. Zero Time Dilemma, the start was so slow and boring and something just seemed off about the game, so I forgot to continue it.

 

[Deleted member 59090]

1. The Witness ; It's just masterfully designed. The way it teaches you all the mechanics without words feels great. The way it keeps blowing your mind feels even better.
2. DOOM ; Having played through the classic Doom and Doom 2 for the first time recently I have to say this new release is not as good but it's still an amazing achievement in a similar fashion to how The New Order revived Wolfenstein.
3. Stardew Valley ; It simply took 50 hours of my life in about a week.
4. Obduction ; I always liked the idea of Myst more then the actual games but Obduction brings the series back in a way that feels modern in not being overly obtuse but also true to the original at the same time.
5. House of the Dying Sun ; It takes the concept of space dogfighting, strips it to the very core and builds with that. Simplified look and amazing sound effects make it even better in VR.
6. Thumper
7. Firewatch
8. Oxenfree
9. Hyper Light Drifter
10. Street Fighter V

 

[Lostconfused]

1. Gran Blue Fantasy ; Fuck this shit. So I played this thing for a few months. Pretty much supports my opinion of all the horrible garbage mobile games are. Shallow content, shallow game mechanics, abusive business practices. It’s like all the wonders of modern capitalism rolled into a single whole. You feed people garbage for an exorbitant price and they clamour for more.

Described to me as an MMO by the more hardcore players, the parallels became apparent enough to me with time. The game’s hooks are based primarily on promoting social interaction through co-op. There are rewards for players joining together as a group, there is content that is impossible to beat by an individual player in their early progress through the game. There are in-game rewards for promoting the game via social media. For hardcore users the game just becomes an excuse for social interaction. This also helps with monetizing the title. If enough players are spending money on the title then that creates a “socially acceptable norm” so that the more reluctant users will start to see it as normal to be spending money on this title instead of just consuming content they can for free.

Even ignoring what I consider to be horrible business practices the game is rather thin on gameplay and content. The game is filled with endless filler content there to waste the player's time creating illusion of depth. Despite the developer’s best efforts to waste everyone’s time as much as they can the hardcore players can hardly be satisfied. So more tedious filler is added. This way the game is an ever changing living organic mess, or a pile of shit that grows ever larger as more crap is heaped upon. Whichever imagery you find more preferable. The later in the game’s lifecycle a player joins the more difficult it is to dig through this gigantic mess to figure out what’s worthwhile and what isn’t. This creates an extremely inconsistent experience for the player, this is even apparent in the quest design and structure it self. Over time the designers clearly understood that they can prune some of their more worthless filler and mechanics.

Presumably the constant desire for money has overridden any good sense that the developers had that prevented them from adding an upper limit how strong a player can be relative to the content. So over time more challenging content is added and then the power floor for the non paying players is brought up so they can keep up with the new content and power creep. This completely destroys any sort of progression curve through the game. Which usually happens with an mmo. Developers smooth the path for new players to sprint through the older content and hit the endless grind of the end game where the current player base resides. This destroys any sort of notion of challenge or difficulty as any sort of difficult content isn’t tackled with skill or strategy but rather with spending resources to brute force through content.

Well this game wouldn’t be popular as it is without some redeeming features. The art is nice, some of the story and crossover events are kinda neat. The core gameplay of making numbers bigger while mostly solved still presents some sort of toy to fiddle with. Every once in awhile you might run into a situation where you will have to think for more than 10 seconds and then you might be feel a bit clever with coming up a creative solution to your current situation.

From my experience this game is just another great example of why “mobile” games despite their popularity are a huge step down. Playing this game seriously is a waste of time of time, it has no respect for you as a player. You are just there to be exploited for whatever value you have. The amount of time required to progress, the pathetic and meager rewards you are given for time spent. The only reasonable way to play it is casually, spending however little time it takes you to consume whatever interesting content there is and then forgetting about the it’s existence and whatever worthless rewards you won’t get. The interesting content lasts hardly a few minutes, while hours and days of your life are wasted on worthless trash. The future is as dark and bleak as ever.

2. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; So reading over that thread about Human Revolution vs Mankind Divided makes me an outlier. I do agree that there are improvements here in there in terms of gameplay. However, I can’t agree with the idea that Mankind Divided is a good game. There are far too many flaws, some poor design choices, and some very frustrating decisions made for obviously wrong reasons. The quest system is fatally flawed. The quest givers very rarely actually direct you to specific location you have to go to and you must rely on the objective marker on your minimap. Except for some quests that objective marker is completely wrong and it apparently wasn’t fixed in the months that passed after the games release! This is far from what I would call good quest design. Then there are some quests that require you to use underdeveloped and less than fully featured systems to achieve the objective. In the latter half of the game you are supposed to drag someone’s body to a locker. The game doesn’t tell you where this locker is. This is another failure of the objective marker as it would only point to an exit from the area not the final destination of your quests. There are multiple exits out of the area that aren’t usable because of the very limited and poor “body dragging” system in the game. The quest was actually specifically designed for you to use the only viable way to solve this problem but nothing suggests that you have to wrestle with these poor game systems to reach your goals.

The blatant manipulation that the developers engage in during the finale of the game is absolutely disgusting. The formerly noncombat hub of the game turns into a giant level filled with enemies, thus slowing down your progress in navigating it. In-fact it’s split into two parts by level load boundary. There are multiple unresolved quest lines at this point in the game and the developers have chosen to feed you these quests lines one by one. One quest objective leads to another in a different section of the hub across the load boundary and then back again. You pretty much have to traverse this hub back and forth multiple times to resolve one quest line. Then! A character pops up on your monitor telling you via radio/info-link to go another part of the hub and repeat the same process again. This happens several times during the final section of the game. It’s ridiculous, it’s a waste of time, it’s very poor design in my opinion.

The story and the overall narrative in the game is rather disappointing as well. The “15 minute” video catching you up on the events of Human Revolution does nothing to set you up for the characters and the story of Mankind Divided. It tells you nothing about what happened to Jansen in the 2 years between the events of the two games. There is of course a plot reason for some of it as the main character is struck with the far too common malady of amnesia. However he regains his memories and sense of self at some point in time and becomes an active agent. You don’t get to find out what happened during that time in the course of the main game. Entirely new characters are introduced that the main character apparently is already familiar with but as a player you know nothing about them. The main story line does very little to resolve this problem.

Then there is also the egregious part of the game “The Breach”. Which is apparently a thing mandated by business people as it’s filled with the usual disgusting practices such as persistent online progression with competitive leaderboards and challenges so you can farm your way to better and bigger loot boxes so you can RNG your way to better gear so you can get a higher score or a better time on the leaderboards that nobody gives a damn about. Apparently there are some tiny bits of story sprinkled throughout this mode to give you an incentive to waste your time on this garbage. But wait! There is also a single Praxis Kit/Upgrade point you can get after completing the tutorial being offered up as the bait to try and get you “hooked” on this garbage. Which gets deposited in your “storage” which is where your DLC items that you paid for go. Apparently the items in storage are one time use, if you use that item during one play through then you will never be able to use it again in any other play through. Which is insane. These aren’t even problems with game mechanics or design, this is just blatant disgusting naked attempts to monetize shit that shouldn’t be monetized. There is nothing inherently wrong with “Breach” game mode in terms of gameplay. It’s just the poor integration with the main game makes it look like an ugly addition cobbled onto the main structure. It lessens the overall package with its presence. Less is more, the less I have to think about how many executives had a hand in this the happier I am when playing a game.

I am certainly glad I bought this game during the latest steam sale at a heft discount because it doesn’t deserve more of my money. I am also not at all saddened by the reports of poor sales. As much as I love the characters and the setting, I will not shed a single tear if we will never get a game of such poor quality again.

3. Final Fantasy XV ; A lot of people wasted a lot of time and a lot of money on this game. It’s the nicest thing I can say about this game and I guess maybe it deserves some kind of recognition. The game has a ton of graphical assets. Character models, environments, objects. I mean all of that looks nice and it’s fun going around and seeing new stuff. Mainly I just wanted to see how much of a mess this thing was going to be and I got what I wanted. It is definitely a game that came out in the year 2016.

4. Overwatch ; I got nothing. It’s kinda fun, it’s an ok first person shooter with some simplified mechanics. People are apparently batshit crazy for it. I don’t understand that last part but whatever.

5. Xcom 2 ; Mostly more of the same as the new Xcom which came out a few years ago. Which is fine, but I don’t quiet agree with some of the changes. I agree that Xcom is probably a solved problem now so you need to change things up to make it interesting and fresh. Adding stuff like “dodge” which just makes the combat even more random is not a move in the right direction. In my opinion the strengths of Xcom were in how structured and very similar to a board game it was. Things are bit more complicated and messy now which I didn’t enjoy. Additionally some of the mission design of just changing up mission objectives or throwing extremely tough enemies at you out of nowhere is kind of shitty. The game feels difficult enough as it is that having to put up with getting fucked over intentionally isn’t fun. Recovering from a bad situation is fun but personally I felt like I was under enough pressure dealing with regular situations as is that being thrown for a loop like that was simply frustrating instead of satisfying. Also uh the world map looks bad I think, the game kinda looks terrible in some areas.

6. Doom ; Has some pacing issues but other than that a fun single player FPS. Has a fun sense of style and presentation. It’s a game that was made to be fun to play and shockingly it’s fun to play. I guess that’s odd or rare these days or something.

7. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; Pretty much a straight sequel to the Tomb Raider reboot with some changes here and there. Still chasing that AAA game checklist. Still kinda very average overall, but has a strong focus on gameplay with platforming, puzzle solving, and combat. Environments are much improved over the first game. They actually have color now and not everything is dirt and mud colored.

8. Civilization 6 ; Civilization 5 refreshed and with some new features. The addition of religion is kinda interesting? Culture and civics seem to be better and more freeform than 5. AI seems to be less warmongering even if still very much so. Either way it still manages that create that need of playing for 1 more turn for hours on end.

9. Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator ; Surprisingly this is just a bit more than the usual ASW expansion/update to their games. Thanks to their move to a 3D engine, they still had the flexibility to improve the visuals and art style of their game. Otherwise it’s still the same game as -SIGN- that came out in 2015. At least it used to be, balance changes and content updates are still happening and another expansion update has been announced. Ah, so anyway I still have fun when I play this every once in awhile and there was a new boxed release this year so on the list it goes.

10. Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers ; Another SRW game! Yay! OG games tend to have better presentation and more effort poured into them than licensed titles. I still enjoyed because I like these games, and I liked the original characters in SRW J. Well one of them anyway.

Honorable Mentions

x. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ; Decent single player story, focuses on characters and manages to make a few of them likeable. Still Call of Duty, hobbled by all of the baggage from the old games but Activision throws enough money at these things that you can dig something up that might interest you,

x. Titanfall 2 ; Portal 2 with guns? Maybe? Kind of a disappointing sequel to Titanfall 1. Would rather play that instead.

x. Mirror's Edge Catalyst ; Kinda disappointing sequel to Mirror’s Edge but I think i’d rather keep playing this. I am not sure they needed to reboot the setting and the story but whatever. There is still a solid core of gameplay here.

x. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak ; Yep this sure feels like another Homeworld game.

x. SUPERHOT ; Oh right forgot about this. Played it for a day when I got my key from backing it. Was fun, great concept.

 

[SpideySenses]

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; A wonderful swan song with the best gameplay of the series coupled with Naughty Dog's trademark writing. I was also a big fan of the pacing of the game, whilst Uncharted 2 and 3 felt like extended action movies, A Thief's End moved at a pace I'd compare with Netflix series, it's a game much more enjoyable if you take your time rather than rushing through.

2. Ratchet and Clank ;
3. Batman: The Telltale Series ;
4. Watch Dogs 2 ;
5. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ;

I had a terrible, terrible year for finishing games, I feel like I played a good percentage of the big releases but not to a degree that I could place them on a list. That's why I'm throwing together two honourable mention lists, one for games I've put many hours in that didn't make the cut and one for games I played a little of and realistically could have placed.

Honourable mentions of games I played a lot: Battlefield 1, Forza Horizon 3, Gravity Rush Remastered, The Division

Honourable mentions of games I played a little: Dishonored 2, DOOM, Final Fantasy XV, Inside, Titanfall 2

 

[Pie and Beans]

1. Uncharted 4 ; Naughty Dog remains a stride beyond the rest of the industry. Mature storytelling, incredible graphics, digital acting beyond all other games, and the stones to deliver a more sedate run n gun game than before to focus on its core message. Multiplayer was also a complete blast making this the full package game of the year. Those house interiors though. Good lord.

2. Dark Souls 3 ; Miyazaki returns to wash the sour taste of DS2 out of my mouth. A good game with some neat encounters but you could tell his heart wasn't as in this one. Bloodborne 2 is what we desire most.

3. Batman Arkham VR ; AAA VR is a cruel mistress. Its an incredible experience, especially with 2 Move controllers for hands. Graphically impressive and immersive, yet a short experience. Played it at a trade show and it was all I could think about for weeks.

4. Final Fantasy XV ; Tabata's patchwork clean up on Aisle Square. When just focussing on side stories and exploring the open world, the game comes into its own. It's only when the half-baked story careens into things and reminds you they had no idea how to truly save this project that it all gets stinky.

5. DOOM ; Purity. Bosses could have done with some work and the MP was no-good, but damn. They finally got DOOM SP right again.

6. Titanfall 2 ; That campaign!! It's use of different stage gimmicks was masterful. It's a pity they fucked with MP too much from TF1 or this would be vastly higher up.

7. Gravity Rush Remastered ; Some of the best female writing in the business. When people talk about wanting more female protagonists, Kat is the real deal. Would be higher up but it always feels like cheating to rate Remastered's at the top.

8. Devil Daggers ; This was a chemical addiction I had to fight out of my body. Beating friends scores on the leaderboards was a mania that threatened to destroy my mind, body, and chemical representation of a soul.

9. Play Room VR ; Robot Rescue is a Mario 64 for-the-first-time experience. Even just visiting the Mini Bots room is a joy. This group must be given more money to make a full retail game.

10. The Lab ; Valve made videogames this year! The excitement of VR forced their hand to make mini-games and short cinematic experiences. Here's hoping its the spark that brought that whole engine back to life and much more will follow.

 

[Spikematic]

1. Overwatch ; An absolute joy to play, with fast, frantic and fluid gameplay that is both very easy and accessible to get into for FPS virgins and incredibly fun to try and master for vets. Everything from the memorable host of characters, the outrageous abilities and the wonderful cartoony aesthetics also helped make this one of my most-played games of the year. Moreover, there is a fairly steady stream of new content ensures Overwatch will have very long legs in the long run.

2. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; The fourth and final mainline entry of Naughty Dog's fabled franchise turned out to be an exhilarating gaming experience for me. The gunplay and overall movement felt better than the previous games, the plot was extremely entertaining and I felt more invested in the lovable cast of characters than I ever had. While I do somewhat agree with complaints about some of the game's pacing issues, I also found myself appreciating the brief bouts of downtime, simply because of the fact that Uncharted 4 doubled up on its predecessors' bar-setting visuals and features some of the most painfully gorgeous vistas I've ever had the pleasure of gazing upon on a screen.

3. Dark Souls 3 ; While I count myself as one of the many Souls fans who found the second Dark Souls game disappointing when compared to the first one, Demon's and Bloodborne, I still had great time playing through the game and felt that it did quite a few things better than the others. I was pleased to see that Dark Souls 3 managed to retain at least some of those improvements and added more of its own, resulting in a wonderful addition to one of the best gaming franchises in modern times. I thoroughly enjoyed the faster gameplay and was very impressed with the new environments and bosses. I also felt that the callbacks to the first game, while a bit on the nose, were well implemented. This could easily have been in my top spot if it weren't for the disappointing and overpriced DLC, disappointing magic builds and an overall lack of "freshness," which I attribute to a franchise fatigue that has started setting in.

4. Titanfall 2 ; This definitely turned out to be the biggest surprise of the year for me. While I enjoyed the first game, my expectations for the sequel were dampened by the many complaints that were pouring out online during the game's beta phases. I also had a pretty bad experience testing this out myself at Gamescom last year and I was sure that I wouldn't even pick it up. But then the reviews started coming out and the game very quickly went on sale for half off, so I decided to give it a shot. And man, am I glad I did, for what I got was a completely crazy, balls-to-the-wall FPS experience that I realized I've been missing since the early Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament days. Titanfall 2, in my opinion, is better than the first game in just about every way. And then there's the campaign, which turned out to be so, SO much more than the tacked-on feature I thought it'd be. It was so enjoyable that I will easily buy whatever followup Respawn decides to bestow upon us.

5. Final Fantasy XV ; I'd be lying if I said this game wasn't an utter disappointment for me. Even though the game's harrowing development process had heavily lowered my expectations, I still found myself hoping for so much more than what this game managed to deliver. Nevertheless, amid all the baffling design decisions, horribly uneven pacing and unacceptably rushed plot, I still found myself enjoying a lot of what the game got right, especially the feeling of comradery between the core group and the sense of adventure in the road trip sections of the game. The visuals and score were, for the most part, wonderful as well. I hope that Final Fantasy XV's success encourages Square to do a better job on future installments, because I'd like nothing more than to see my favorite franchise return to its former glory.

6. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; A very enjoyable but ultimately disappointing sequel. Human Revolution was among my favorite games of the last generation and my expectations for the follow up were sky-high, especially since Adam freakin' Jensen was back. What I got was a game that started off as extremely promising and enjoyable before it suddenly ended well before it should have. The intriguing plot felt disappointingly incomplete and there was an alarming absence of scale and adventure when compared to its predecessor. I really, REALLY hope that they make a third game and really take their time this time around so the end-product that feels complete this time around.

7. DOOM ; I actually haven't managed to finish the campaign yet because I started it quite recently but so far it's been a pretty fantastic experience. I love the hellish looks, the fast and brutal gunplay and of course, the stellar soundtrack. Just about everything about it hit the right spots for me and I'm eager to continue my playthrough once I get some more time. I do wish there was a little less backtracking and a little more killing though. Also, I didn't really like the multiplayer at all. After spending around an hour I decided it simply didn't measure up to the campaign and felt quite tacked on.

8. Pokémon Sun/Moon ; A much needed shakeup to the usual formula, Pokémon Sun/Moon was a very refreshing experience. While I haven't beat the game's story yet, what I've managed to play so far has been super fun and just about every change and quality-of-life tweak has encouraged me that mainline Pokémon games DO have the potential to evolve. A special shoutout to the glorious localization. I don't think I've ever enjoyed the random nonsense NPCs spew or some of the downright dark Pokédex descriptions as much as I have in this game.

9. Darkest Dungeon ; While several Kickstarter projects have caught my eye, none intrigued me as much as Darkest Dungeon when it was first unveiled. Something about the game's aesthetics really struck a chord with me, so much so that I snapped up the game the second I saw it on Steam. What I got was a thoroughly frustrating yet utterly addictive game that I still find myself revisiting on random occasions. Despite the infuriating RNG and some design decisions that I simply can't agree with, Darkest Dungeon is a wonderful experience that features brutal yet satisfying combat, unique and interesting character archetypes and a grim and dreary ambiance that is a joy to delve into. I'm very excited to play the expansion and hope that the devs continue to churn out content and tweak the gameplay so my return visits are less on the frustrating side.

10. Battlefield 1 ; Whoa, just realized this makes the fourth FPS title in my top 10 list. This year really was an awesome one for the genre. While I've played almost every previous installment in the franchise, this one turned out be the one I played the most by far. Looks and sounds amazing and there's a lot of fun to be had in almost every mode. If I was actually good enough to play above a scrub level though I'm sure I'd have enjoyed this more and ranked it higher.

Between all these titles and the other stuff I play online (WoW, LoL, Dota etc) I simply didn't have enough time to start the other games that I picked it up in 2016, including Dishonored 2, The Last Guardian and Inside, all of which I’m sure would’ve made their way onto the list based on what I’ve read and seen so far. Overall 2016 was a fantastic year of gaming and here’s to an even better 2017!

 

[FearMyWrench]

1. Overwatch ; By far my most played game of 2016, in the magnitude of hundreds of hours of games. In fact I pretty much blame this game for my rather empty list.. even though it didn't come out until halfway through the year. It's been nice to finally scratch the 'Team Fortress itch' again, even if it's still a fairly different game.

2. Pokemon Go ; While it feels infinitely strange to place an admittedly mediocre mobile game on this list, and especially at this high of a placement, it really was an experience. I typically see these lists as more of a 'games I enjoyed the most' list rather than a more objective 'best games' list, and so that's why Pokemon Go is here. As many have already said, this game really was a true phenomenon in the first few weeks and it's hard to put in words how special it was to play it in those times. It got me outside for two or three hour long walks for honestly no real purpose other than this game, which I wouldn't otherwise do, and meeting other players along the way was really special.

3. Ratchet & Clank ; It's rare for me to really get into a single-player game without any social elements these days, so when one of those games captures me into playing for hours, it means something. Just a blast to play and I miss these sort of games being created. This game also finally made me actually feel like my PS4 was a worthy purchase from the perspective of someone who is primarily a PC and Nintendo gamer, I definitely felt some regrets until playing Ratchet.

4. Planet Coaster ; Finally someone creates a true new theme park game! it still has a way to go in some regards and hopefully will see expansions, but Planet Coaster deserves points for coming the closest anything else has for over a decade.

5. The Tomorrow Children ; A very strange, yet oddly enjoyable experience. Despite being a game that I'd kept an eye on for a few years during its development, it's not at all what I really expected. It has the feel of Minecraft at times, and at other times a vague feeling of Animal Crossing. Most importantly, the perfect game for sitting back on the couch and playing somewhat mindlessly. I'm looking forward to seeing what else the developers can do with it.

6. Sid Meier's Civilization VI ; Most definitely not a game changer by any means and wouldn't make a list of the objective greatness, but it makes the list as another enjoyable Civilization game for spending hours and hours playing. Solid, but nothing worth gushing over.

 

[Nameless]

+1 for procrastination

1. The Last Guardian ; There are better looking games, better performing games, games that control better, and games that I spent more time with this year, but nothing had a bigger impact or evoked such strong feelings of wonder or companionship. Yet another Ueda masterpiece. Trico as an astounding achievement in and of itself.

2. Titanfall 2 ; In a word Undeniable. Mechanically it's the deepest, best feeling, most fun-to-play game to spring from its genre in quite some time. The last game I could about say that about was MGSV, only it lacked a campaign so expertly paced and inventive. Throw in a multiplayer that highlights the best parts of the core gameplay, stellar level design online and off, and loads of variety and yeah... it's my brain's GOTY but I decided to follow my heart this year.

3. Dark Souls III; A game that looks to refine and honor the wheel instead of reinventing it. But even without any real innovation Miyazaki's formula shines bright here providing incredible boss battles and a rigorous world ripe for exploration and discovery. PVP is also wickedly fun and addictive.

4; Gravity Rush Remastered ; Kat is so charming it hurts and zipping around sky cities is nothing short of intoxicating. Magical game.

5. Inside ; Beautiful and unique as it gets with a narrative that builds like a bloody snowball rolling down a demented hill. 10/10 art and sound design.

6. Battlefield 1 ; All Battlefield games take a while to truly get to where they need to be, but this is the best one out the gate since BFBC2. Combines classic sandbox BF insanity with the sort of 'war is hell' imagery you'd expect in a WW1 setting. Maybe the most satisfying audio-visual spectacle I experienced this year

7. Uncharted 4; A master class in writing and pacing with unrivaled production value. Proves once again Naughty Dog are the best at what they do.

8. XCOM 2; A fantastic meta game, insane amounts of customization, and cool art wrapped around brilliant strategy gameplay.

9. No Man's Sky ; There's something to be said about wholly unique experiences, even if they fall short in certain areas. For a space nerd who values exploration above most things , NMS, as flawed as it was, gave me feelings I NEVER expected from gaming.

10. Ratchet & Clank ; Witty, gorgeous, technically marvelous, the Pixar comparisons are spot on all around.

 

[jaina]

1. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; Sessions!!! A JRPG where I like EVERY party member, and I can actually use all of them at once. Fun Japanese entertainment / idol world, which sometimes touches on serious subjects (but not enough). Fun soundtrack and catchy songs. Dungeon design is better than past Atlus games, I hope P5 is at least as good. The text messaging system is fun for missions and side chatter, and a very good use of the Wii U gamepad. Also, I've only dabbled in SMT and Fire Emblem so far, you don't need to be a fan of either to enjoy TMS#FE.
2. Rise of the Tomb Raider ; A great action adventure. The combat is very entertaining, in stealth, bow sniping or just wrecking dudes with guns and explosives. Interesting exploration and versatile area design (at least the tombs). The collectibles are almost not tedious. I now consider this game a template for how I want my 3rd person action adventures.
3. Final Fantasy XV ; Cruising around in a car is much more fun than expected. Why am I enjoying doing all the busy work side quests? Combat is chaotic and fun. Maybe a bit easy because you can spam healing items. Dungeon design is exceptional and I felt in danger (until I vastly overleveled). Same goes for nighttime. Story could be explained or told better, but I don't think you should wait for the ellusive story patch. The infamous bad chapter is an anti-pattern for game design. Great soundtrack. The last chapter was awesome.
4. Ratchet & Clank ; My first one of those. And probably the last, because the predecessors are all inferior to this smooth experience.
5. The Witness ; Very refined and satisfying puzzle design. The preferred puzzles are different for each player. When stuck, change the area or come back the next day. It might work for you to take a longer break after a lot of puzzling, but it's dangerous to forget all the systems. (Unlocked 3 lasers, then took a 4 month break to get the other areas and mountain).
6. Headlander ; Very cool concept with switching heads and security levels. Essentially a Metroidvania. Tight <10 hour package that kept me on hook for a week. Special props because the rooms are designed so you will never get stuck, e.g. when a body explodes.
7. Hitman ; Designed in a way that it is challenging to pull off hits, but the AI is so oblivious that you can do it in a hilarious way. Hope season 2 is more than just additional maps.
8. Doom ; It's great. So great that I don't want to play it on the side and give it my full attention. Which is why I'm not that far into it yet.
9. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; A lot of effort went into this game, and most of the time my amazement was in the technical achievement, more than the gameplay, story or dialogue. Combat is better but still sucks, though stealth is somewhat satisfactory. At least the sections are shorter now. Could have been a lot tighter, after about half I had my fill because aside from the environments it got very samey. The emotional scenes were well done. Good ending.
10. Rhythm Heaven Megamix ; Is easier initially than the other titles, a better introduction to the series. I prefer it this way. Plenty of rhythm games to unlock.

Honorable Mentions
x. Forza Horizon 3 ; Only played the demo, but think it will be great fun once I get the full game.
x. Superhot ; The mechanic is great, but I got bored about half-way in.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Final Fantasy XV had several quality of life features, I'm glad those are finally getting better in JRPGs.

 

[kennyamr]

1. The Last Guardian; the emotional ride that starts with the main characters not knowing what is even happening at the beggining, all the way to the point where they trust and protect each other. The vulnerability and shortcomings from both of them and their attempts to survive together.It's a tears generator.

2. Final Fantasy XV; even after all of its flaws, it is still a game I loved to platinum and one that made me lose in there for more than 180 hrs. It also has the best (post story) dungeon/level I've played in any kind of video game ever before. After 10 years, we can finally listen see what happened to Noctis and crew.

3. Uncharted 4; I play games for their stories and that is where U4 shines the most. The plot, the characters, the setting, the dialogue, the realism and fantasy so well combined. In my opinion it is one of the best games ever created and will be remembered i the history of video games forever.

 

[Tuttle]

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; The effort on display here is impressive. Whether it’s the design, animation, story, characters or their acting, it’s all married together in a presentation that’s simply unrivaled. A fitting end for Nathan Drake and renewed excitement for what Naughty Dog tackles next.

2. XCOM 2 ; More of what I loved from my GOTY in 2012. Didn’t love all the changes but they help bolster the core game in a meaningful way.

3. Watch Dogs 2 ; Manages to outshine the original in every way. I was sold on Marcus & the setting but the trailers made his ‘Crew’ seem insufferable. Luckily, the characters and story beats came together nicely for an enjoyable ride start to finish.

4. Doom ; The vibes I got from this pre-release compared to post release were much different. Thankfully, it was for the better. The movement, speed and filthy music propelled Doom to an unlikely, yet triumphant return in 2016.

5. The Last Guardian ; I ran out of time this year and this is the game I’m playing right now. It’s better than I was expecting given its’ troubled development. Since I haven’t beaten it yet, it will remain here knowing full well it will likely end up in my top three. Welcome back, Euda.

6. Street Fighter V ; Eventually, this could be an amazing game. Capcom and I settled for a decent to good game. The gameplay is there, but that’s a lot to ask for while we wait on the rest of the game.

7. Abzû ; Beautiful scenery, movement and music make this a joy to play.

8. No Man’s Sky ; Media blackout allowed me to enjoy what was there before realizing what wasn’t.

9. Bound ; Someone or some team’s vision and their obscure and inventive method of delivery are why I appreciate games like Bound & Abzû. They add great variety and expanding acceptance to the gaming landscape.

10. MLB The Show 16 ; Year after year, the Sony San Diego team maintains a level of excellence not often seen in an annual series.

 

[GitarooMan]

1. Overwatch ; This game consumed my year more than any game has in over a decade. A supremely addictive team-based FPS where every game brings something new, with wildly varying characters that give you something different to try all the time. On top of the gameplay, there is a great cohesive visual style that is easy to look at and decipher while being beautiful at the same time. A true polished gem that is one of my favorite games of all time.
2. Forza Horizon 3 ; A return to form for me after a somewhat disappointing FH2. The environment here is amazing to look at and drive around in with lush jungles, open plains, and cities. Just driving from event to event is a pleasure in its own right
3. Paragon ; The first MOBA I've ever gotten really into. I played mostly on PS4 and felt the control scheme really clicked for me and the game really pulled me in.
4. Tom Clancy's The Division ; Fun for me in both single and multi, a great TPS.
5. Street Fighter V ; A flawed but ultimately satisfying fighter that survives its weaknesses through good mechanics.
6. Batman: Arkham VR ; Very short obviously, but a tremendous experience that is amongst the best PSVR has to off
7. Battlefield 1 ; An amazing looking game with an interesting campaign and fun multiplayer
8. Eve: Valkyrie ; A great space shooter that has intense moment-to-moment gameplay.
9. Raiden V ; Always a huge fan of the Raiden series and this delivers more great action.
10. Firewatch ; A resonant story with great visuals and voice acting

 

[Thores]

1. Overwatch ; I'm already aware of how cliche this sentiment has become within this thread, but it remains true: I never expected my favorite game of the year to be a multiplayer-only first person shooter. It's a genre I am consistently ambivalent towards at best. In the few cases where I pick a game fitting that category up anyway, I quickly put it back down because I'm terrible at it. Overwatch, however, takes nearly all of my problems with the genre and either fixes or improves on them. From the colorful aesthetic, to the dynamic cast of characters with intriguing personalities and movesets alike, to the game's focus over my successes instead of my kill death ratio, I found a lot to like about the game before it even came out. And since then the thorough clip of post launch support, whether it was a new character I got pumped about or a pile of new time-sensitive skins, has consistently pulled me back in after I thought my interest had lapsed. Overwatch is the most I've played a game in 2016, and it's the most impressed I've been by a game's design in 2016 hands down. Blizzard iterated from a lot of different source material to make this title, but the sum of its parts is something unprecedented.

2. Pokémon Sun ; It's no secret that I really like Pokémon, but I like Sun a lot. The story and characters were adorable, I loved a lot of the new monster designs, and the new structure of the format mixed things up juuuust enough that it felt like a new experience. I still miss back when Pokémon had a really beefy postgame, but at least this postgame has been better and more interesting than XY's, which felt practically nonexistent. I'm not sure quite where Sun ranks for me in the whole series just yet, but it already feels like one of my favorites. Maybe Stars will be the game that propels Gen 7 to the top.

3. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; I've been anxious for years that this bizarre collaboration between Atlus and Nintendo would never get localized. It still feels like a miracle that it did, and I'm incredibly grateful to NOA for making that miracle happen. The cast and story aren't going to blow anyone away, but it's just got a lot of great JRPG shit in there. TMS has one of the best turn based battle systems I've ever experienced, and the progression and skill systems were all fun and addictive enough that I actually felt encouraged to grind. It filled in the void that the lack of Persona 5 this year left, and I think it's a quality experience even without the SMT and Fire Emblem franchises to hold it up.

4. Zero Time Dilemma ; Man I have seen a lot of hate for the finale to the Zero Escape trilogy, and it actually surprises me a little. Yeah, I prefer the visual novel of the first two games to the cinematic presentation of this one, especially when that presentation was developed on a budget that prevents excellence in either the graphics or the voice acting department (though there are at least a couple of excellent performances in the latter case). But the strength of Zero Escape has always been the story, dialogue, and characters, and I think Zero Time Dilemma still absolutely delivered on all three. There were so, so many pieces that Uchikoshi had to fit together in order to make a satisfying conclusion to the story, and one stupidly executed twist aside, I genuinely think he pulled it off.

5. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice ; In my opinion, this is the best Ace Attorney game since the original trilogy. One of the better overarching plots of the franchise, the humor and localization is all on point, and the final case has the most highs that I've experienced from Phoenix Wright and his friends in a while. The Insight mechanic was really cool, if underutilized, and certain neglected characters got some long overdue focus that finally invested me in their narrative. The way the story ends has me very very interested in what angle they're going to take for AA7.

6. Street Fighter V ; I'm not going to pretend that V's launch issues weren't terrible. Or that half of their additions and "fixes" over the course of the year weren't embarassingly half-assed. Or that it's acceptable for a fighting game to release in 2016 where the second player can't return to character select during or after a match. Despite what a rush job nearly everything about that game is though, they knocked the actual fighting game part out of the park. SFV is the most fun Street Fighter game I've ever played. The V-Skill and V-Trigger systems are perfect. It gives every character new tools that make them feel fresh and new (finally a game where I don't find Guile's gameplay super boring), and also helps each character feel more distinct from each other. The creativity and diversity of movesets, on top of just how good it feels to play and how it's actually accessible enough for me to feel competent on a competitive level, means that I can overlook a lot of Capcom's crap. Not all of it, or it'd be ranked way higher. But now that it actually has a story mode (which is one of the dumbest things I've ever played but I still love it) and the content is growing more and more, I think it deserves a second chance.

7. Pocket Card Jockey ; Probably the second most time I've dunked into a game in 2016, something I certainly didn't see coming. The solitaire is just addictive, and the package they've weaved around it is both super charming and funny as hell. The sheer fun I've had with this bizarre little experiment makes me hope that we get more oddball bite sized games from Game Freak in the Switch generation as well.

8. Dragon Quest VII ; I can't believe this finally happened, but I'm so glad it did. I've wanted to play 7 for decades, but the PS1 version has been stupidly expensive for as long as I can remember, and the gameplay was already archaic when it came out. The 3DS remake makes it feel fresh and more contemporary, while still keeping that old school grindy goodness to it. Honestly there might be a bit too much grindy goodness, and a tendency to make me rebuild my team a little too often, but I still got tens of hours of fun out of DQ7 before it wore me out, and I hope to return to it in the near future.

9. Dragon Quest Builders ; I like Dragon Quest as a franchise, but I never thought I'd like it so much that I'd be giving accolades to two Dragon Quest games in the same year. That said, they are two completely different games of exceptional quality, so here we are, I guess. I've never played Minecraft or any game in its genre, because it felt too intimidating to me. Creating buildings and entire environments from scratch always seemed like something out of my reach, something that I didn't and couldn't learn the skillset for. Then I played the Builders demo. They gave me directions on what to build through the narrative, and the knowledge on how to build it through blueprints and recipes. That was GENIUS to me, and I bought the full game as soon as I could afterward. Dragon Quest Builders makes me feel like a master builder because it gives me the tools and information I need to succeed. It also has a surprisingly compelling story, and the dialogue is legit charming and hilarious. What a pleasant surprise.

10. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth ; I've been curious about Digimon games for a pretty long while, but never really had the opportunity to play one. After all, Namco Bandai essentially stopped localizing the RPGs in the series... until now. My purchase was largely just to support that gesture, but I had a lot of fun with what I played. Digivolving is a really cool mechanic, and a great way to discover and own new kinds of Digimon. The story is really stupid but in a fun way. Some of the quests and dungeons have some really obvious and annoying padding, but the monster collecting and battling experience is solid enough that I was able to overlook a lot of that. I'm really optimistic for Next Order this year.

x. Oxenfree ; I don't feel like I've sunk enough time into Oxenfree to give it a legitimate slot on my list, since I get the vibe that the ending is going to either make or break the experience for me. But I do love the trippy psuedo-horror it provides, and the dialogue choices feel like they have more legitimate impact than in any Telltale game that came out this year. Definitely keeping an eye on this team in the future, and I hope their next game has a better budget put into their voice cast.

This was a pretty solid year! A lot of above average JRPGs, long-awaited localizations and pleasant surprises. And I still have yet to play Last Guardian, which I feel would have made my list otherwise. Really looking forward to the results. I think this is going to be an interesting year.

 

[Messofanego]

As always, wish I had more time to sink into Hitman or Dishonored 2, so you'll just have to put up with my love for the shorter games of 2016!

1. Kentucky Route Zero - Act IV ; How could it be any other game at the top? There is still no other game doing what Cardboard Computer has been and to this level of resonance. Unlike many other games on my list, this is politically relevant. While it has become a joke phrase because of Trump voters, this game is genuinely about economic anxiety and working class malaise. No wonder it's had influence on many other videogame developers, especially the upcoming Night In The Woods. Even more so than Act 3, this fourth and penultimate act really nails down what the overall plight is of the characters and the themes are in this game. You've built up quite an ensemble by now who are all travelling together on a boat. At points, you can switch between people on the boat and the people who got off the boat to check out certain buildings or weird places. To where, we don't quite know, which is emblematic of the aimlessness found in the characters, but it's all about savouring the journey and new experiences. Conway the deliveryman is not getting any younger, and once he gets a replacement robot leg and meets with what can just be crudely called skeleton people, he decides to settle for a job in the underground to Shannon's surprise. The whole game is about working class people trying to make ends meet while holding onto ambitions and philosophising on their existence. In that way, it's even more emotionally relevant and topical than the David Lynch influence. Yes, the game has eye-catching visual storytelling in its amazing and unique presentation that changes perspectives at a moment's notice, but the focus is on characters first and foremost. Kentucky Route Zero should be seen as one of the most important videogames of our time.

I can't wait for the final episode!

2. Severed ; There have been quite a few games in 2016 that had fantastic and emotionally enriching stories, and none other were they as resonant as in Drinkbox's firstperson dungeon crawler Severed which is about loss, grief, and moving on. I loved Guacamelee and would follow Drinkbox's games wherever they went. For their next venture, they went exclusively to the Playstation Vita. I literally bought a Vita just for this game. I'm glad it's finally now on other devices (iOS, Android, 3DS, Wii U). I had no idea how big of a departure this would be from Guacamelee not just in terms of gameplay but also in tone. This game much like Hyper Light Drifter is purely melancholic in its tone and atmosphere. As for the typical hero's journey, there are early deaths in the family, but the hardest and subversive part is the protagonist Sasha having to move on from all these hardships. This game is funereal. It's the videogame equivalent of Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain in terms of being about moving on past your grief, in a fantastical manner. In this oppressive and lonely world of nasty monsters, there are only two other talking creatures that you interact with which adds to the purgatorial atmosphere. Easily, the coolest and most interesting female protagonist of 2016.

Not only does the game have excellent storytelling, it's packed to the gills with variety in locations, enemies, mechanics, and the perfect level of challenge, rounded by top-notch presentation. Who expected such depth from just the main interaction of swiping? The neon-bathed art style is immediately eye-catching compared to any other dungeon crawler. The original soundtrack by Yamantaka Sonic Titan and Pantayo is memorable, it's like a mix of tribal instruments and modern rock structure. The track "Home Revisited" is like out of the best work of a JRPG composer. Severed is just well-executed on all levels, and left a big impact on me.

3. Superhot ; This innovative first person shooter, much like the best of games (like the recent DOOM), is more of a puzzler. Variety and new mechanics keep on being introduced until the end, packaged by a high level of replayability through various modes that bring new challenges to the same levels because of a different playstyle you have to adopt like with just a katana sword or your bare hands or only being able to hotswitch between bodies where guns don't exist. Top notch aesthetics and gamefeel really make Superhot stand out. Of mention is actually the postmodern metatextual narrative. The game is fully aware of the Matrix-like cyberpunk hero's journey it is and works to subversively undermine that in its text adventure in hilarious fashion. It brings a refreshing sense of self-aware satirical humour that never takes itself too seriously and makes for an engrossing tale from start to finish.

4. Hyper Light Drifter ; This is another game genre like Severed's that I didn't expect loving so much this year, being a top-down action adventure. Part character action game and part dungeon crawler, not only does this have top-notch presentation in terms of music, animation, art, and melancholic storytelling, but also a healthy amount of challenge throughout especially with the memorable and excellent boss battles. Thankfully, it's not as morose as Severed so you could play them one after the other, where there is light-hearted atmosphere and a bright lively hub to return to after all the hard adventuring. There is no dialogue but what story the game is about to tell through gameplay, cutscenes, and art is one of being afflicted with a terminal disease (inspired by the developer's own heart condition) that is appreciably ambiguous, melancholic, and hard-hitting.

5. Aragami ; One of the first stealth games I ever played was Tenchu on the Playstation 1. I'm glad there finally is a spiritual successor that even improves and innovates in certain ways to give an incredibly fast-paced and replayable stealth adventure thanks to the shadow leap mechanic. There are three playstyles, but my favourite is ghosting where you shadow leap all the way through a level without being noticed or even touching an enemy. While the story is not exactly the most engaging, the levels and challenge are. The stealth is satisfying to the level of Mark of the Ninja, so if you're hankering for some more ninja goodness, look no further.

6. Anatomy ; Your mind is scarier than anything physical, which is exemplified by Kitty Horrorshow's Anatomy about a haunted house and listening to tapes. The game plays on your mind's power of suggestion and making up patterns in the dark. This psychological horror game is like no other, with the lack of monsters, and in a Lovecraftian way is more about an inexplicable abstract horror. There is an intimate and uncomfortable relationship between the player and the house. There is plenty of metaphorical meaning that can be layered, especially because it's narrated by a woman about how this could be a tale of domestic neglect, abuse, and revenge. It's only ten minutes long with three critically important subsequent playthroughs amounting to less than an hour, but it's one of the best horror games I've ever played. If you love games like Silent Hill that stick in your head forever, you need to play this.

7. Inside ; A dialogue-less game that has more power in depicting a dystopic world through mechanics and environmental storytelling than any other. The game is ultimately a tale about human nature, both the bad and the good, rendered through aspects of mind control, population control, and body control. It's been a year of melancholic stories in games, and you should definitely not miss out on this.

8. Quadrilateral Cowboy ; Do you like the old heist capers? Do you adore Jazzpunk? Do you love production design and animation where you pore over every object and want to zoom into details of the world? Well, this decidedly 20th century take on cyberpunk with an all-female heist team should be up your alley. You play as Poncho the hacker in the funniest, quirkiest, and most varied game of 2016. The new mechanics keep on coming to the very end. Each time you type out the commands to increasingly complex steps to complete your heist in success, it's super satisfying. More than that though, is the character building through intimate moments such as finding Poncho waking up after a one night stand or playing badminton with her friend that really give this a heartwarming touch.

9. Doom ; I love first person shooters and much like Wolfenstein The New Order or the new Shadow Warrior games, this unabashedly retro + modern mix of many weapons, no cover, and all about movement as strategy was very satisfying. If you liked Brutal Legend for its heavy metal world, check out when Doom goes to its gorgeously grotesque hell. The gameplay loop gets a bit repetitive towards the latter half where you've maxed out your stats and weapons with not much in the way of new strategies to combat, but it's still a fun romp thanks to the enemy variety and varied level design.

10. Virginia ; Another dialogue-less game that has shown the power of storytelling in videogames can also be conveyed much like in film through editing, multiple character perspectives, jump cuts at the right times. This 2 hour tale of supernatural mysteries and conspiracies might not have much in the way of interaction where you just walk around levels (or scenes) to then press a button and have the story jump but it's something that can't be achieved in any other medium. My favourite bit however is a bit of social relevance with the theme of understated racism in an emotionally compelling montage towards the latter half. The multiple characters and the question of character identity along with confusion is incredibly potent, reminding of the likes of Bergman's Persona and Robert Altman's 3 Women. The fantastic Twin Peaks-inspired orchestral original soundtrack deserves mention, too. The best walking simulator of 2016.


Honorable Mentions

x. The Deadly Tower Of Monsters ; One of the funniest games of 2016 thanks to the director narrator's fourth wall breaking that is always aware of whatever you're doing in the game, even down to spinning around (commented on twice!) in an idle manner. What started as an innocent and funny examination about spinning in videogames turns into a heart-wrenching story of love and loss. It's a cute retro sci fi romp through movie sets and a gorgeously designed tower. Now ACE Team, give me Zeno Clash 3!

x. That Dragon, Cancer ; An autobiographical game about cancer that has more to appreciate it for such as the surrealism, theme of frustration and cherishing the good moments, multiple perspective, and how to let go through mechanics at the end.

x. Bound ; Unique and interesting 3D platformer about the power of ballet in defeating enemies and reminiscing about a dysfunctional family that deserves to be played. Especially recommended if you're into surreal landscapes. Especially if you liked Papo and Yo. My favourite female character design of 2016.

x. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday ; With Never Alone and a few others, it's pretty cool to have videogames about different cultures and histories that you don't ever get in this medium. In this case it's Iran around the time of the Islamic Revolution when anti-establishment sentiment was soaring against the Shah totalitarian regime. It's fascinating to learn about that through the game while having a cohesive and compelling story so it doesn't feel like just a narrated walk through a museum exhibit. All the historical and cultural tidbits you learn and uncover makes for an enlightening experience like the political climate of the time such as about SAVAT or the Mujahideen, Iran's version of backgammon, the food, and why there was such an anti-American fervour.

The game plays like a historical Telltale game where you have player control and moral decisions to make but it's not quite an adventure game and more a cinematic experience. It's well-written drama with moving music and great voice acting. There are large crowd setpieces which are quite impressive for how much detail is packed in for a crowdfunded game (that missed its initial Kickstarter goal of $395K). There are sometimes QTEs which just reminded me of Indigo Prophecy and they can be silly but the most effective one is when you're moving between a hail of bullets and can die pretty easily, so patience and attention to audio cues is key. There's a framed narrative so you're reminiscing about this time of the 1979 Revolution while being interrogated and tortured. You play as Reza, who's a photographer struggling to remain neutral as it becomes increasingly harder to do at the cusp of a revolution. You've been away from the country so it's also a homecoming story. All the photograph taking reminded me of Beyond Good And Evil, so that was great. Often when you take a photo, you can read more info about the real event which reminded me of Never Alone's tapes.

There's a cast of characters that are all interesting (especially Bibi the woman leader of the protests, Babak the close friend, Ali the hothead, and Hossein your brother who's Shah security). Moral decisions relating to them can be trying with your own politics like whether violence such as throwing rocks during a protest is justifiable under such oppression. There's a particular one in the last quarter of the game that will feel like you're given nothing to make such a potentially devastating accusation or who to save which plays into the endings. There are 19 chapters, some of them can zip by in a few minutes while the ones where you're controlling Reza and navigating environments while interacting with hotspots can be longer, so overall it's a 2 hour experience. The story is eventful enough that it doesn't feel short but despite both endings, the abrupt ending(s) is a major cliffhanger. Abrupt not in an artistic sense where there's meaning to it but just as if there will be a continuation to do with other characters.

Despite the intense drama around the revolution, it was the smaller specific moments that stuck with me more. At one point that's not related to the plot, you can decide to pray or not. I've never seen muslim prayer in a videogame ever and have to say it was very faithful with even a step-by-step photo guide. From that prayer, you get a line of dialogue about Prophet Muhammad PBUH that can be used later on. My favourite sequence was spending time in your home with your family, viewing live-action photos, arguing with family members about this political situation, rummaging through items, and coming across this giant stack of home video tapes. The photos and home videos are all live-action which made me wonder if this was autobiographical in a way, and that kind of intimacy was exciting. I wanted to spend more time with these characters and this world, which is why I felt unsatisfied with the ending as I just wanted more. That is probably a good thing.

x. Quantum Break ; While it's not saying much, this is the most innovative, visually transfixing, and cool-feeling 3rd person shooter I played in 2016. The powers are all fun to use in combination against the smart AI to make for a very tactical and movement-based shooter. While the story doesn't stick the landing and the TV show doesn't quite connect the characters in an emotional manner although it does make the villain a more rounded character and the character arc of Beth is the most interesting aspect where her life being stuck in an alternate timeline is mined for great drama especially in Act 4 (Remedy is really good at Act 4s, like the previous Alan Wake in the mental hospital). Remedy's typical in-game storytelling touches of humour like Nick's conspiracy forums, the bridge protest, the audio book "Adventures In Flesh", or reminiscing about nostalgic memories (spoilers) and Jack being in an emo band are some of my favourite moments. I just wanted more jaw-dropping combat sequences!

x. Oxenfree ; Did you like Life Is Strange or Stranger Things for its cast of young characters and slice of life narrative blended into a time-bender of a framing? Do you like John Hughes or Richard Linklater films that nail the teenager life? Do you like good writing? Play this. Also, play it a second time to cement its actually quite tragic story.

x. Firewatch ; Superb voice acting really sell this emotionally resonant tale of a man escaping reality and his marriage to a place with no responsibilities but eventually realising his mistakes. Unlike other people, I wasn't as taken aback by the mystery being surprisingly mundane and grounded, as I felt it was foreshadowed if you dig through the notes and environments. The game's pacing suffers a bit when you have the open world with nothing to discover or find in the nooks and crannies except for a turtle at one point, but the second half recovers with all the jump cuts much like Virginia where it speeds up in thrills thanks to Chris Remo's incredible soundtrack.

 

[d00d3n]

*snip*

It is a bit annoying that you went against the spirit of the ballot, but thanks for the free points to Mankind Divided I guess ...

 

[Korigama]

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II ; Though the first Trails of Cold Steel came out at the very end of 2015, it wasn't until months later in 2016 that I actually got around to playing that one. If not for that, I'm quite certain that I would've made that my 2015 GotY. Fortunately, as a direct sequel to that game, Trails of Cold Steel II proved just as worthy of the distinction. The already excellent combat having been refined even further beyond the original, this was accompanied by greatly improved animations both in and out of battle. Once again featuring an excellent soundtrack, there was no shortage of perfect song choices for every given situation during gameplay and as the story unfolded. On the negative side, most of the interactions between the members of Class VII declined compared to CS I in spite of some of the less examined characters getting additional character development this time around. Furthermore, expanding the number of playable characters as they did led to less opportunity for spreading focus among them reasonably evenly, especially with many of those not part of Class VII being available for a far more limited duration. Finally, I felt that the narrative itself was weaker compared to the original game, having had far more nitpicks with the logic of the characters than I ever did with CS I, the missed opportunity of actually showing and letting players experience the full scope of the civil war story rather than merely telling them what was going on during the fiercer conflicts on the other side of Erebonia, and a relatively disappointing epilogue which seemed to have fairly contrived circumstances. Still, with everything taken into account, I very much enjoyed my time with this game, and consider it an excellent send-off for JRPGs on the PS3. I very much hope that Cold Steel III for PS4 accounts for both the strengths and weaknesses of its predecessors to deliver something even greater, and look forward to seeing just what Falcom's vision without the restraints of the Vita's limitations will yield.

2. Doom ; Generally, I don't play all that many first-person shooters. I had history with the older Doom games, not having ever touched Doom 3, but learned the details regarding its design decisions that led it to be much maligned. It's very much safe to say that this game represents a return to form. Fast and brutal, Doom 2016 is a thrill to play. With smooth controls, a broad variety of weapons and weapon mods that can be swapped on the fly to suit the situation, and a great variety of ways to rip and tear demons through Glory Kills that further encourage aggressive gameplay eschewing the cover and regenerating health systems associated with the majority of modern shooters, it's a game that just feels great to play. Though story isn't at the forefront, this is by no means a negative as the focus remains on the gameplay mechanics and their mastery, with excellent work done with the worldbuilding through the optional data log entries for players interested in it. If I were to complain about anything, it would be excessive amount of data necessary to install the game and the fairly lengthy load times, also being of the opinion that the Mars segments of the game were more interesting than the Hell ones in respect to level design and general art direction. Regardless, should a sequel or single-player DLC expanding on the campaign be in the cards, id Software have my full attention.

3. Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- ; Having already made Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- my 2014 GotY, I went in already knowing what to expect with this one. A direct sequel to -SIGN-, it carries on the story of that game, with the Xrd titles continuing to be among the only fighting games I would recommend playing for story without reservation. Adding even more characters and additional system refinements, the soundtrack is much improved over -SIGN- as well. Essentially, it's everything that I already loved about -SIGN-, but more of it. I would be more inclined to complain about the lack of dual-audio this time, but the low quality of the dub in the previous game makes such an omission much less of an issue to me. The impending release of an update for this game without continuing the story, called Rev 2, hasn't escaped my notice, but the fact that a low-priced downloadable update that doesn't necessitate replacing the disc will be available makes me considerably more lenient.

4. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; In all truth, my expectations were very low for this game. Given my strong distaste for Uncharted 3 after loving U1 and U2, along with word of the troubled development that this game had been undergoing behind the scenes, I wouldn't have been too surprised if the franchise's glory days were long behind it. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case. Having far superior gameplay and encounter design compared to U3 (the odd omission of being able to throw back grenades aside), along with a much more compelling story, U4 serves as a reminder as to why I had come to enjoy the series in the first place. Though it's a shame not to have Greg Edmonson on the soundtrack anymore, the music in U4 is still well-made, though the lack of the Uncharted theme song at the title menu remains sorely missed. Graphically, it's easily one of the best-looking games ever made for the PS4, and serves as an excellent showcase for new adopters who received it when purchasing a slim as I did. That said, I absolutely could have done without the inclusion of the "tap the DualShock 4 to recharge the flashlight" mechanic that Naughty Dog were compelled to throw in toward the end of the game for some reason, which was not welcome at all. Wasn't all that wild about the Kid Nathan segments after already not being much of a fan of the one in U3 either, but I still considered them much less of an annoyance than the controller abuse encouragement already cited. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Uncharted with Nathan Drake's adventures now concluded.

5. Gravity Rush Remastered ; I had been interested in Gravity Rush since its original Vita release, yet I had little else unique to the system in mind to justify investing in the hardware. Naturally, a remaster for PS4 was a godsend. A wonderfully charming game with dizzying heights and a great sense of speed, it makes excellent use of its gravity-themed powers at the player's disposal. Kat is a great protagonist, and her interactions with the rest of the cast never fail to be entertaining. Still, in spite of the polish to textures, frame rate, and geometry received in the upgrade from Vita to PS4, the limitations in scale for Hekseville itself remain apparent. Furthermore, as much of a treat as the comic book panels used for telling much of the story are, the world of the game itself could stand to be more colorful. Thankfully, there's plenty to look forward to in respect to more color and larger scale with the sequel.

6. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice ; After having my confidence in the Ace Attorney franchise renewed by Dual Destinies, I had been looking forward to this, even if I was skeptical about the idea of placing the franchise's mystical elements at the forefront once more. Just as with AA5, the character models and their animations remain among the best transitions from sprites to 3D in the industry. And as I would expect, solving the mysteries behind the varied cases is as engrossing as ever. That said, I felt that the soundtrack was a step back from AA5, in spite of having some standouts on it. Additionally, the Khura'in setting's lawyer-hating gimmick was starting to wear on my nerves, with it having taken until about halfway through case 3 before things truly began to get interesting with the main story and making me want to stick around to see where it was going instead of hoping Nick got on the next flight out of there as soon as the case wrapped up.

7. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse ; As a direct sequel to the original Shin Megami Tensei IV, many of the locations featured covered familiar territory. That said, the new cast focused on residents of Tokyo rather than outsiders, increased emphasis on story, and change in tone led to a different kind of experience for mainline SMT. Changes to make demons more distinctive based on specialties were appreciated, and Masayuki Doi's work on redoing the guest demon designs from IV was quite exceptional. The map fixes leading to clear labels for locations and what demons appear on it being less aggressive were also appreciated. I didn't, however, appreciate staggering the availability of skill slot apps for Nanashi and his demons, and was just as displeased to learn that randomized enemy reinforcements still have a good chance of allowing them to strike first (which can still be a death sentence). While there are some decent songs, the soundtrack overall is weaker compared to the original IV's.

8. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; After a wait of half a decade between games, I had very much been looking forward to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a past GotY pick of mine. The gameplay remains familiar, yet has refinements and new augments to keep things interesting. And just as before, there's plenty to see and do while conducting hub exploration, with it being just as easy as it was in HR to get sidetracked instead of doing the main missions. Still, it is fair to argue that it's a bit too familiar, as it does indeed feel more like an expansion pack than a full-fledged sequel. The level of tech in respect to character models and animations also falls short of the standards expected of AAA eighth-gen console games. Additionally, I was quite bothered by not being able to use a single press of a button to toggle holstering and drawing a weapon, even with the controls set to the HR scheme.

9. Zero Time Dilemma ; I was not especially enamored with Virtue's Last Reward. With that in mind, however, I was invested in seeing the Zero Escape trilogy through to the end. Though still nowhere near the level of AA5/AA6, the work on the character models in ZTD was still greatly improved over what VLR had to offer. Deciding against neutering the violence and horror aspects the way that VLR had done was also appreciated, and as much as I missed Kinu Nishimura, the character designs in ZTD were far better than her work in VLR, with this game having the best designs overall since 999. What's more, the puzzles in ZTD were nowhere near as obtuse as VLR's could be, nor was there any need to solve any of them twice on separate difficulties. However, in spite of some genuinely intriguing and moving moments, the story had a good share of problems, including a twist handled far more poorly than any in the series before it. One could also argue that the developers overcompensated with the level of violence after how tame VLR was, and the ending was by no means satisfying. It was far from the conclusion that Zero Escape should've received, and while I still found it preferable to VLR, it is my belief that the franchise peaked with 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.

 

[Riposte]

Check out previous years if you like what I'm doing here:

2011
2012
2013
2014
2015​

Here we are again. If you're a first time reader, here is how this will go: I'm going to post huge, lone paragraphs (therapeutically) ranting about why I liked my favorite games of the year (and even some things I disliked about them) paired with two images. Each individual image will link to a music sample of that game. If you are on a PC, you'll want to stretch the width so both images are on the same line as intended. Mobile or tablet may not be the best way to read this, but feel free to give it shot. Finally, it may be stupid to aim to write giant walls of text (and I went all out this year), but that's just how I roll; if that bothers you, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

One final use of these lists is to let people get a grasp on my gaming tastes, personality, and history. With the descriptions of 60 ranked games and 39 honorable mentions, I think I have provided that.

I'm skipping writing a LTTP entry this year, simply because I haven't had the time, but that game is most definitely Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. Siege focuses on my favorite elements of objective-based twitch shooters that are perfectly complemented with frankly creative classes; it fills that certain niche for me that reminds me of Metal Gear Online. I actually had played it a tiny bit in 2015 (it came out in December after all), but not enough to say I've really played it before 2016 (it also saw many good improvements). Anyway, onto the main course:



X


Overwatch (PC, PS4)
Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard Entertainment

For all their famed polish, I've never been too endeared to Blizzard and haven't felt attracted to their output since the WoW era. Overwatch is a different story. For one, it doesn't have the kitschy art that plagues their fantasy games. OW's colorful environments, full of neat details, are pleasing amalgams of utopian futurism and globetrotting tourism. It's the roster's slick designs, built around distinctive silhouettes, which sells it. Blizzard has shamelessly taken Team Fortress 2's classes (and interactions, multi-media, objectives, etc.), spread around the UberCharge, and distilled them with a hotbar and MMO trinity mindset, pulling from everything else in the process. You get a cooler Medic, Scout, and Demoman, but also Call of Juarez's concentration, Titanfall's titans, and Halo's bubble shield. And there's no need for TF2's design bloat when they can create more characters (like fighting games). Mastering each of their unique playstyles for switching or randomized teams gives OW an endless well of wide-ranging player growth, something I've barely scratched the surface of. The downside is that balancing is tougher, as seen with frequent patching in just its first year (see: healers), but it's a worthwhile trade. Team-based objectives, and feeling dead weight of idiots more so than TF2, means playing with randoms can be anything from a lovely surprise to a strong case for misanthropy (I'm a solo queuer by habit, so yeah...). The maps are generally decent to good, but the lopsided pacing of the 2-point capture make for laborious final battles where (comboing/countering) ultimates becomes all-important. In general, ults end up as a burden to the game's flow and there's too many factors to treat them like a super in a fighter. What OW does outside of games is innovative in how... manipulative it is. Voting invigorates post-match screens and ”Play of the Game" massages someone's ego better than CoD's final killcam. I'm not bothered with the dopamine-chasing LootCrate&#8482; crap they are using to subsidize their future content (or Californian mansions) because I don't feel like I'm missing options like with Hearthstone and it obsoletes needing yet another progression system. It does get too exploitive when factoring in limited seasonable events though. Save the whales.​

IX


Doom (PC)
id Software/MachineGames, Bethesda Softworks

First, let's talk about what 2016's DOOM (4) isn't. DOOM is not, well, ”DOOM", and it's a bit unnecessary (if not cruel) to equate the two. It's only a little more Doom than Serious Sam is. You can't quite call it a throwback either, because even back when SS3 came out, there were already plenty of games doing this sort of thing (granted, mostly badly). With D4, we do still get a sort of modernized vision of Doom, but only portions of it, segmented apart. Its core is a series of ambushes to harass you while you explore and player activated arenas that mark a level's climaxes (allowing you to scout and plan ahead). These build to a crescendo when new enemies and weapons are introduced, until plateauing prematurely, three or so levels before the end. It would be a mistake to say the D4 only features arenas, but it wouldn't be to say they are the fun parts. Exploring through the open, strikingly hellish environments is enjoyable enough at first, but after a while it begins to feel like a checklist. They went on to tether half of the progression system to this slow-paced padding, a mistake that defies comprehension. Thankfully, a patched-in ”arcade" mode completely salvages replays into something exciting: everything is unlocked and you are given limited lives. The solid FPS boss fights were a highpoint, I only wish there were more. (My favorite was actually in a player-made SnapMap against a Baron of Hell with MMO raid mechanics.) The skirmishes force you to be on the move, involving dodging projectiles and hopping between floors. The swift Resident Evil-like executions grant you breathing room and healing, in place of cover. Offense is the best defense. The weapons with The New Order-like upgrades are inspired, but they're also a giant missed opportunity: the balance is off (Gauss Rifle > *), ammo conservation is trivialized, and their interplay with the enemies is shallow - a concept that defined Doom and was nailed by contemporary SS3. Also, nothing here truly justifies a room-clearing BFG. Wasted potential aside, the chaotic combat really works, but that's not what makes D4's campaign extraordinary. The secret is that it's not about being ”old-school", it's about ”good graphics" - how an awesome aesthetic can make a good game great. It's maybe the best looking game I've ever seen in motion, the music drives me into a frenzy, it's legitimately funny, and butchering enemies is cathartic. Not quite Doom, but pretty damn cool.​

VIII


XCOM 2 (PC)
Firaxis Games, 2K Games

In 2012, X-COM came back as XCOM, something very different and kind of a step backwards. Streamlined to an intuitive tabletop ruleset, it was essentially a turn-based cover-shooter that succeeded in enthralling you in a tense atmosphere, making those misses all the more devastating (aided by iron man rules). At least for the base game, this decent concept was let down by the middling encounter design, turtling tactics, and a reverse difficulty curve. XCOM2 is a dramatic improvement that builds on the nerve-wracking mood of the first one. The inclusion of a turn timer singlehandedly deepens every aspect, also nerfing turtling. Those who complain about timers (in general) want their dessert before they finish their vegetables, but what they should understand is that, even if it's painful or scary, depth and tension is what makes interactivity emotionally stimulating and that comes from making your actions have weight and consequence. A problem can arise though, where the timer becomes almost impossibly strict on VIP extraction missions, thanks to randomized maps (switched from iron man to reset-on-failure). I'm not a big fan of randomized anything, let alone maps, but besides the aforementioned example, XC2 remains sound. This comes down to having really good enemies that are fun to fight and solid rules for (destructible) terrain, two crucial elements XC2 nails. The introduction of Concealment adds a neat stealth layer to tactics which massively changes the first rounds. The strategy layer features way more intriguing choices now, both in how you build your base and which missions to do on the map (juggling penalties from the ones you don't). Regrettably, XC2 still has a hard time with its difficulty curve. Things start off being a nail-biter every time, then it's back and forth as new tiers are introduced, but eventually your larger, decked out squad takes the lead even against the strongest foes. The good news is that this effect isn't as bad &#8211; and the final mission is so insane it sort of makes up for it. A part of this is because it's tactically deeper at its core, but it's also because building and using overpowered characters is just a lot more fun this time around. Class upgrades add so much to playstyles (cross-class abilities are really amusing). All the classes being overpowered establishes a testy balance, although grenadier and psi ops stand a bit above the rest. Bulldozing (literally) through a map with three or more grenadiers in something every player should try at least once. In the end, I really enjoyed clearing the campaign; the biggest thing I can hold against it is that it's easier to get burned out when you are not dealing with a hand-crafted campaign.​

VII


Tokyo Mirage Sessions &#9839;FE (Wii U)
Atlus, Nintendo

For all the shit I give them, rightfully, I have a soft spot for JRPGs. They seldom surpass my expectations, but when they do, I tend to fall in love. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, an enjoyable JRPG brimming with style, is probably the best example of this since, maybe, The Last Remnant or Pokemon BW2. It immediately becomes apparent that TMS is SMT, minus negotiation and fusion, and plus J-pop idols and glitzy spectacles in battle. The ”FE" part is relegated to vague concepts and references (FE1 and FE13 are sadly overrepresented). A basic appraisal of TMS would be it's an enhanced Persona 3/4 sans the schedule or weighty themes with Strange Journey sprinkled all over. Working from a solid SMT base of meaningful status effects and a limited number of skills, it focuses on making use of benched characters with instant switching and a considerable advancement of SJ's Demon Co-Op (it's ”Press-Turn", with the addition of FE's weapon triangle) in the form of Session Attacks. It's satisfying watching your party jump in for a flashy hit one after the other, dictated by learned ”Session Skills" establishing flowing chains between damage types (as expected of SMT, this can also be done to you). As combat evolves, Sessions can trigger musical duets, which then resets the chain for an even bigger combo (and overkills provide extra rewards); the snag here is that Sessions are the one thing you can't skip, driving me a little crazy by the end. This combat really shines in TMS's exceptional boss battles. These are great half because of devious boss mechanics and half because of another FE-ism, reinforcements, adding a lot of tension. The dungeon designs are also probably the finest I've personally seen in a SMT. They strike the right balance of size and branches without overstaying their welcome and have visual flair to go along with thematic gimmicks. The only thing missing is that the game doesn't feature much of an endurance challenge and it's lamentably ”save anywhere". Overleveling is a concern, but even doing most of the side-quests by the end of each chapter, I found that enemies would quickly catch up with the next dungeon. I don't mind the lack of demon fusion, as it usually bogs you down. The story and characters lean on the generic side, but humorous and cute moments make for a pleasant tone. TMS's use of the gamepad for text messaging is oddly compelling. Even before considering the idol themes, which, while not typically my scene, are awfully catchy, this OST is among my favorite of the year.​

VI


Street Fighter V (PC)
Capcom/Dimps, Capcom

Street Fighter V is the only fighting game I played this year, but it's also the only one I needed. It's a first (and final?) entry, but it isn't nearly as unbalanced or buggy as those typically are. I liked SFIV, all things considered, but I can describe a lot of V's appeal by contrasting the two. It's an easier game to ”play" with lowered execution barriers, which suits it fine because that element added more workload than creativity in IV: FADC was pointlessly burdensome and I tend to avoid 1-frame links anyway (don't you dare tell me I'm getting old). It's a more ”honest" game (barring the Mika infamy), moving away from the vortex set play that was dominant in later IV. More focus is put on fundamentals, which Crush Counters (FA crumpling applied to pokes) rewards in spades. Short, high damage combos and weaker defensive options (e.g., no invincible backdash, reversals no longer cancelable) makes it a more direct, offensive game, which may end up suffocating playstyle variety, like in III, but it at least manages to better incorporate fireballs (lots of funny moments with returning Urien). Lazy Ultras are traded out for ArcSys influenced V-skills and V-triggers, which, to varying extents, flesh characters out. The music and 3D art style are also a step up (if you ignore some hair and those horrific Red Bull costumes) and feedback of your attacks is amazing. Veteran characters are revised slightly to keep it fresh (Gief got robbed though), but it's the new characters who have caught my eye, better additions in design and thematically to what IV gave (Fang has that IV look though). The charismatic Rashid(ooo!), my main and oddly the story's main character, is wildly fun to play, whether you are using him to put on nonstop pressure or do zany gimmicks with his crazy mobility and eccentric projectiles (damage was relatively puny in Season 1, but we'll see how things go in 2). Another one, Laura, really plays to my love of Makoto in 3S, though she was overshadowed by Mika in S1. The whole season thing makes this tricky (I've played 98% SFV and 2% SFV ”Dash"), so I'll spare the specifics. Rebalancing is admirably limited to big annual updates, but it amplifies their changes for better (Chun's air legs nerf) or worse (Alex lol). I'm ignoring the elephant in the room: Capcom's baffling incompetence. Most of this is stuff I can overlook as poor features, but, as an online warrior, stacking input lag has a detrimental influence across the board and small things like jump-ins become frustrating (that, and this DualShock 4 I'm stuck with fucks up my thumb). The reactions to S2 have been mixed, but I do have faith the game will only get better with years.​

V


Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun (PC)
Mimimi Productions, Daedalic Entertainment

I've always wanted to get into the Commandos series, but it's never happened. Using real-time tactics to sneak a party of highly specialized units through a large map? Sounds right up my alley. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun claims to be a successor, so I jumped in and became instantly hooked. As anticipated, the outstanding level design perfectly accentuates the particular skills of your characters. Your party usually has two or three of the five characters, who must cover for each other's weaknesses and the absence of the rest. While there is some overlap, the tools (traps, disguises, lures, sniping, etc.) are distributed in a way where every unit feels important (though Yuki is slightly too strong) and the map seems crafted around opportunities to make them shine (possibly together). Climbing roofs or swimming is exclusive to certain units, who may then need to open a path so their ally can take out a fully-armored guard. The characters themselves are made endearing through casual conversations they have in reaction to the environment or specific actions. Every chapter feels different with secondary objectives (think Hitman) or gimmicks, like snow leaving footprints, which help or hamper you achieving the goal. On replays, ”badges" gives each map additional goals which spotlight their sandbox elements; too bad they are not tied into the game itself, especially the ”speedrun" one, which would reward mastery. Enemy layouts, layering lure-immune sentries with multiple patrols, becomes dense to the point where, when combined with hardcore difficulty's fast detection and deaths, each area turns into a puzzle. Herein lies a problem (and why ST isn't my #1 or #2 GOTY): this process becomes extremely trial and error and the game knows it, as it pushes save-scumming onto you (even has a timer to remind you!). The low margin of error notwithstanding, juggling multiple units in full real-time in addition to terrain blocking your mouse clicks will cause plenty of issues, and it's a question whether you want to lose 3 seconds, 3 minutes, or 30 minutes over random clumsiness (I stuck with the middle, but it's not a question I want to answer as a player). The ability to sync up actions helps, but it's no RTwP. It's to ST's credit that, despite indulging in my biggest pet peeve, I still really like it. Purely as a puzzle, unraveling stalwart enemy defenses is gratifying, while the concept, down to the level design, is too damn good to pass up.​

IV


Titanfall 2 (PS4)
Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts

Titanfall 2's campaign turning out so well may have been a surprise, but considering the pedigree and the base they were working from, it shouldn't have been. I've only put a few hours into the multiplayer, which I feel may disqualify my analysis, but if it was only singleplayer it would still be here. Admittedly, they could have just as easily put the titans, free-running, miscellaneous options into a generic military campaign, but instead each of these are integrated to full effect. On Master difficulty, hitscan is as vicious as any cover-shooter, but by building up speed through wall-runs and slides, you can move faster than they can aim and pick them off. It's honestly brilliant, but, with no enhanced HUD, not even radar, it does run into the classic Sonic the Hedgehog design limitation: you go too fast to react to what you're running into. I'd say this tactic works half of the time, but Respawn foresaw that, which is why you always have a timed invisibility cloak to cover mistakes and open new avenues of attack. I still often felt like hanging back was the smartest move, so I can't say it fully solved this. The parkour can also make the grace of traversing to the next waypoint feel like a 3D platformer, best seen when grabbing the inoffensive collectibles and hidden weapons. The visually impressive titans provide another fighting scheme, with the numerous titan bosses, each based on the MP's unique options, giving you climactic duels often missing in FPS. Being able to instantly switch your titan loadout to the same MP selection provides a lot of toys to play with. BT, your titan AI, is also at the center of this sci-fi war/buddy-cop flick, where dialogue choices write out an action movie script. It's a modest story, if not predictable, but there's something noteworthy about how cleanly it's executed. Similarly, the level designs of the campaign may be the best thing about TF2. Almost every level has a wonderful twist to it, e.g., a topsy-turvy factory building a battleground you'll later fight in, a level that's has the time mechanic and puzzles expected of a Zelda dungeon, a series of sky towers where robot enemies can be hacked into a small army for a later wave. Do a bunch a cool shit and fall in love with a robot in a nice little campaign, I can't ask for more. Bears repeating that I need to further explore multiplayer, but I should say that I've enjoyed it, a respectable return to TF's innovative mechanics, but the only map I liked and played ”24/7" was (TF1's) Angel City. Make of that what you will.​

Part 2...

 

[Riposte]

Part 1...

III


Dark Souls III (PC)
FromSoftware, Bandai Namco Entertainment

In 2011, I wrote my first GOTY list with Dark Souls at #5. Later came Dark Souls II (#6) and Bloodborne (#3). With Dark Souls III, it’s easily the most featured series, which speaks to the excellence of the formula; it’s not as special as it used to be, but I don’t see myself getting tired of it either. DS3 revels in this familiarity, most so since DS1 did it with Demon’s. However, DS1 was a big leap and DS3 is the end point of increasingly smaller jumps in quality, joined with a few steps back, giving each game something they’re the best (and worst) at. (BB was the only one “completed” in time for listing and it shows.) DS3 has had only one DLC, which was disappointing in size but did address PvP concerns. This is fine though, because this is the entry in least need of an expansion. The bread and butter of fantastic level design and bosses are at its most consistent. As usual, the best bosses are humanoid-like duels, which all have twists to them. For better or worse, they (and other enemies) have unpredictably long attack chains and varying speed for attacks with the same tells, more BB-like (thankfully, dodging is stronger, shielding not so much). It makes for more frustration, but I rather it was a little “unfair” than too easy. Poor balance among builds is a series tradition (I go 2-hand weapon and nothing else for the first run); this time it isn’t magic, which is terribly implemented, but parrying that can trivialize these awesome fights - shades of DS1’s Gwyn. Weapons now have some cool special moves to give him individuality, but their implementation makes them more of a nice bonus. While on a linear path with a separated hub, the design within areas is stellar, full of shortcuts, hidden spots, and challenging mini-bosses. I was very impressed with the layouts of all of the main ones, with the Cathedral and Irithyll being the strongest. There’s also a wonderful successor to DeS’s Tower of Latria. This, plus a certain small area, are DS3’s past references at their best. The overuse of winking at DS1 fans and BB’s aesthetic does leave a dent in the setting and lore though. I do wish it took more from DS2, mainly in terms of covenants and features. They finally brought healing back to the basics, even limiting the “humanity” stand-in, but it’s undone by how much you can upgrade your flask (not to mention what it does to magic). DS3 had a lot to live up to with BB and incredible The Old Hunters expansion, but the fact I’m indecisive without even considering 3’s DLC is impressive in itself. So, once again, maybe the best Souls game yet, but not by a wide margin. It’s a good of a series conclusion as any.​

II


Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest (3DS)
Intelligent Systems/Nintendo SPD, Nintendo

Fire Emblem sure is weird these days. IntSys released Fates as two/three separate answers to a simple question: “Should SRPGs have interesting maps?” The correct answer, Conquest, gives us a top 3 FE. Fates inherits and fixes a few things from FE13. The botched “Pair-Up” is split into consistent offensive and defensive stances, the latter canceling out the former. By then allowing enemies to ruthlessly make use of it, a failed concept transforms into a superb one. FE13’s class system is reined in enough to make characters distinct, but remains full of potential (although this can be crippled by low weapon ranks). An example of this is how marriage opens the door to many possibilities. And children, no longer broken little monsters, fit in a lot better (mechanically, that is - they are downright inappropriate plot-wise). The new weapon triangle and removal of durability are ambivalent changes, not a big deal when it isn’t hurting balance (ninjas are really good, mages made weaker). CQ respects the series’ history of limited grinding potential and wide-ranging objectives. The sheer concertation of skillfully laid out maps effortlessly surpasses all but the masterpiece Thracia 776. The fundamentals of a good FE map are complemented with the ingenious map-changing Dragon Veins: Summoning a party of doppelgangers with shared health to clear out a second map or opening and closing multiple paths at once while balancing a wandering EXP-sponge NPC and the deadly swarm of ninjas who weaken you with every attack. Chapter 10 could be the best defensive map in the series, which takes a mean turn when a protective moat is suddenly drained. These deserve to be played on Classic Hard/Lunatic. I’ve had to restart chapters countless times, even on bosses (twice!), but with every attempt I get closer to a perfect strategy. CQ succeeds as a FE, but that also means coming with series-wide flaws. It’s always been possible to build super units by low-manning maps, but this doesn’t come up if you hold onto a big reserve, which is more my style. While there are no unusable units (some demand class changes), the four royal siblings are so damn good, not using them is effectively a challenge-run; Xander in particular has near game-breaking potential with stat boost items. Not so different from the also great FE12, “My Castle” and online features are a potential hole in the game’s integrity. Not only does it undo the finite amount of gold and, with DLC, EXP, there’s a powerful system of recruiting units and copying skills (most of which is hacked and passed on to legitimate players). PvP is trash. Being able to grind tedious supports isn’t so bad though. As a full game, CQ isn’t hurt by Fates being three games, except in one way: story. Because resolutions can only happen in the true/DLC route (still amounts to little), the protagonists have to be shockingly stupid for anything to fit; it’s more hole than plot. Along with the support conversations being phoned in, this is one thing FE13 can say it does better. Whatever, I’ll take it - anything to get a Fire Emblem like this.​

I


Hitman (PC)
IO Interactive, Square Enix

It was a close race, but the Blood Money fanboy in me won out. 2016’s Hitman (Tee Em) takes the positives of Absolution’s modernization and brings it back to the roots of one of the best sandbox series of all time. IO Interactive, as if trying to apologize for their misfire, has gone all out in making expansive, intricate maps animate with a daunting amount of scripts and rules. With so many ways to enter and move through a level, they had to make them feel like a living environment which is interesting from any angle rather than a mere stage. And this splendid attention to detail holds true for even entire city-blocks, taking the hitman concept to new heights. I prefer the darker atmosphere of the older games, especially the music, but the energetic playful tone unexpectedly fits. Both intentionally and not, it’s farcically funny game. Almost every mission has you take out at least two targets and make for an exit, as per custom, so that you are forced to fit in until you are all done, especially if you are aiming for the “Silent Assassin” challenge. Or maybe you want to cause some chaos? Considering the dozen methods of killing, including semi-scripted accidents, you are given a playground that still remains dangerous enough to keep you on your toes. HM, like its predecessors, is unlike most stealth games; a good Hitman level means something different than a good MGS or SC one, which are more about geometry or vision cones (this is why the dress-as-a-ninja challenge is a tenth as fun as you might think). It’s more about deception (“social stealth”), hiding in plain sight with a fairly intelligent disguise system and following social rules for that area. This means you spend more time trying to fool an AI than hiding from it. HM features the most consistent quality of maps in the series, with the ones playing to the mechanics’ strengths early on being the best. The episodic format encouraged thoroughly playing each of these before moving on to the next one and its worth sticking to that even after they’ve all been released. There’s a very serious caveat to all of this though. Unless you fiddle with the UI options, playing HM is like watching what will become your favorite movie of the year with someone who can’t shut up about what’s going to happen next. I ruined two maps like this before I caught on. Easy modes are compromises made to enable fulfillment (“winning”) at the expense of a game’s ideas (like blending up a juicy prime steak into a smoothie), and the better those ideas are, the more you're missing out. While IO didn’t have the decency to warn players with a big ol’ “NINJA DOG”, this is exactly what the sludge of UI and tips, not to mention the save-scumming, they smattered onto HM does. It turns clockwork masterpieces into fifteen minute linear checklist experiences. With a little discipline, HM becomes the exploration game of the year, if not decade, each level being something you can soak in for hours. So, maybe in the top 18 with all this junk on, #1 with it off. Perhaps the bigger error is that there is no Professional mode. The series figured out how to brilliantly handle quicksaves eighteen years ago with SA and no one seems to have paid attention. Continuity between the main missions, like BM’s notoriety, would’ve also been a good fit, but at this point I guess I’m just listing my wish list for Season 2, and Season 1 was remarkable enough as it is. Fortunately, this whole problem with saving goes away entirely with the extra missions being all or nothing. Escalation contracts, which pile on targets and limitations with each completion, when paced out well, really pushes 47’s abilities to the limits. Absolution’s Contracts Mode is used as base for an endless amount of player content, naturally 90% of it is second-rate or ways to complete challenges (still better than abusing saves on a single run), but they can also make you marvel at how many unessential NPCs in a map work as fun targets. Elusive targets are anti-save-scumming taken to the extreme, expiring in a short time and only giving you one real shot; I don’t really care about the exclusive suits they reward, but the heart-pounding tension is priceless. At first it seemed incredible how much content I was able squeeze out from each episode, but after considering how amazingly designed this whole package is, it makes total sense.
​

Honorable Mentions (In alphabetical order. Each image links to music.)



Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright – Spirit of Justice (3DS)
Capcom, Capcom

Top-tier spin-off “Investigations 2” aside, the later AA series hasn’t quite matched the GBA trilogy. While 6 inherits 5’s optional fail state and overcompensating hand-holding, it’s a return to form for the mainline thanks to the content being so splendid. The first case is a slog, but after that it’s one good case after another, highlights being the third and, especially, the second half of the final one. 5 felt like it was pushing me through twists and puzzles, but 6 lets you have a few “eurekas” of your own, although another problematic inherence from 5 are the exciting, but automatic “revisualizations” (dumbed-down from AAI’s “logic”). Rafya’s seance is a plainly superior version of Athena’s mood matrix. SoJ’s new prosecutor is inadequately mild with tedious animations, but it also has the most intimidating villain since 1. The referential music is starting to get old (was meaningful in 5), whereas the fresh, charming 3D art style is advanced further, yet it knows not to stray too far (unlike Zero Escape being derailed by Telltale garbage).​

Civilization VI (PC)
Firaxis Games, 2K Games

The new Civ is a city-builder in disguise, where the middling 4X elements exist mainly to disrupt or help that effort. The advance city management mechanics make up for other facets feeling tacked on (espionage) or messed up (religion) and planning districts adds depth to the shaping of your empire. The Civ V base (1UPT) has a troubling influence on combat balance and pacing, though it comes with some good (e.g., improved city-states), while the game has semi-helpless AI and poor multiplayer balance to start (rushing uniques can be way too good). The early game is always fun, in part thanks to the vicious barbarian units, but I’m going through motions by the medieval era to the point where I rather just restart (and I have, a dozen times). The prodigious OST does tempt me into later eras though. It’s arguably the most complete a vanilla release has ever been, but the truth is my love for the Civ formula, with goals awkwardly designed between single and multiplayer, is not as strong as it used to be (thanks Paradox?).​

Dishonored 2 (PC)
Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks

Like its predecessor, Dishonored 2 undecidedly combines fantastic Thief-style level design with level design trivializing powers, but virtually everything is improved (exception: voice acting). I like the smarter guards and layouts, tougher enemy types, and Emily’s more creative powers, and I love being able to play without powers at all (it works too). The colonial-style Karnaca is colorful and brutal, a trade up from dingy Dunwall, though there’s a lack of subtly found in 1’s background details. Missions provide huge areas within a livelier city, though still falling into painstaking exploration porn if you want a semi-completionist playthrough. As flawed Deus Ex successors go, this narrowly edges out the also improved Mankind Divided, but a terrible, unchanged EXP system is almost unforgivable – and D2 has The Clockwork Mansion, an utter marvel of a mission.​

Furi (PC, PS4)
The Game Bakers, The Game Bakers

A short and sweet top-down action game with shooter elements (at times, these genres flip in importance). It’s a pure boss rush, which does make it feel limited, and those otherworldly walking sections do drag on, but it otherwise succeeds at its straightforward premise. Bosses are varied with a cool futuristic manga look and balanced per a smart health/lives system which is just punishing enough. The modern-style moveset is given to you fully complete with no diluting progression mechanics. Combat mixes simple combos and parrying with bullet-canceling projectiles (both potentially healing you), climaxing with maze-like danmaku phases and intimate duels. It’s a jack of all trades. Two aspects that frustrated me were the essential dash feeling “laggy” due to an overlapping charge mechanic and really poor projectile readability for the final boss. The stealthy sniper “The Burst” is my favorite boss fight of the year, showcasing the blended mechanics, draped in stylish visuals and synth music, at its fiercest.​

Let It Die (PS4)
Grasshopper Manufacture, GungHo Online Entertainment

LID is some great/mediocre addictive dungeon-crawling. The simpler Souls-like combat revolves around easily-baited humanoids, it’s more about keeping it 1 on 1 and item conservation. Bosses and ever-present “Haters” can seem too beefy or deadly, if not for your ridiculous mushrooms (i.e., spells). Basically, it’s a cycle of playing it safe, getting cocky, and surviving your mess or dealing with a punishing fallout (possibly grinding). This pattern becomes something terrific when you find yourself too far in to go back, cursing your shrinking inventory and praying for a new elevator as each floor becomes scarier. The generous F2P stuff is mostly irrelevant except for credit-feeding trivializing death; even grinding loot is the same whether you put in $99 or nil. The graphics are crummy, but the sound design is ace. For music, Yamaoka works his ambient magic while a hundred bands (!) were pulled it to do their take on the game’s title. Grasshopper-brand humor killed me a few times.​

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (3DS)
Atlus, Atlus

An expansion to SMT IV (most of its locations and assets are recycled, comprising most of the best music), Apoc fixes a great deal of made IV (sub-)mediocre and ends up as one of the better SMTs. The difficulty curve is now sensible, though it went from a dependence on save-scumming to a costless optional fail-state. While time-consuming team-building eventually solves most problems for you, combat is elevated by taxing, unpredictable boss rushes, without a doubt the best moments of the game. Elemental affinities affecting skills deepens the classically addictive fusion and makes individual demons more unique. The straightforward plot is more thrilling than IV’s, but the setting is sadly dumbed-down with retcons. The shonen manga tone clashes hard with the classic SMT grimness, turning Dagda from interesting ally/villain into The Grinch. Dungeons are slightly better than IV’s chaff, but it’s no TMS.​

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)
Naughty Dog, Sony Computer Entertainment

The best and worst Uncharted. At times during its four or five “chapter ones”, some “boss” “fights”, and the final act’s erratic pacing I wondered if this was a parody of cinematic games (as its multiplayer’s progression system is of those). UC’s non-combat elements (e.g., automated platforming), overabundant here, were never great, but seem worse with Tomb Raider now doing it better. Beyond going too far with the usually dull bits, ND has still reached new highs. The improvisation-heavy combat and encounter design, borrowing from UC3’s excellent shipyard and TLoU’s combat-stealth, surpasses their previous efforts (and TR’s), with stealth finally getting an equal opportunity. A shame it’s stuck being an unpredictably strict cover-shooter on Hard/Crushing, increasingly exchanging mechanics for challenge. The industry-leading dialogue, presentation, etc. has only gotten better with each entry and 4 is a testament to that. As excessive (and retreaded) the story-telling can be, it does set up a satisfying narrative conclusion few long-running series will ever have.​

Xanadu NEXT (PC)
Nihon Falcom, Nihon Falcom/XSEED Games

Sometimes a game can go really far with nothing but excellent pacing and sense of progression, flowing you from one area into the next. NEXT doesn’t necessarily lack in mechanics (though its presentation is really showing its age), but it’s the dungeon-crawling goodness, full of nice puzzles and secrets, that won me over. Combat is like a simpler or more abstracted Ys (with a mouse, a PC “ARPG” would be a better fit, I guess), which ends up feeling a little clumsy by comparison. I didn’t like how stat-based the combat was, but the selection of equipment, skills, and spells was nifty; this backfires when stacking damage boosts can make encounters end too quickly. The room by room dungeon layouts, the core of the game, left me generally impressed and the way you would discover shortcuts back to the hub or other areas made me more annoyed the Souls games have stopped doing that. It’s really cool that something that holds up this well finally got localized after 10 years (not counting the odd N-Gage (!) version).​

Part 3...

 

[HungOverOnATues]

1. XCOM 2 ; An improvement upon its predecessor in almost every way. Steam Workshop and mod support means that there are a bunch of ways to customize your game and expand the life of it further, from new maps, to accessories, to the recently released total conversion Long War 2. I really hope it gets a proper expansion as Enemy Unknown did and not just season pass DLC that we got.

2. SHENZHEN I/O ; SHENZHEN I/O is a puzzle game by Zachtronics where you build circuits and write code to solve logic problems. That description is probably enough to send most people running for the hills, but as an electrical engineering student I adore the theme and the types of problem solving involved. Plus, it comes with a printable binder full of fake data sheets for all of the components in the game - too damn cool.

The problems tend not to be especially complicated, however the challenge comes from having a limited instruction set, limitations of the capabilities of various components, and the amount of physical space provided for you to place the components. With a variety of different parts, and leaderboards for different categories of cost, power, and lines of code, the real fun is in planning out different designs to optimize your efficiency in each category and show up your friends. It's one of the few games of late that I would obsess over when not playing it, trying to come up with new ides for solutions in my head.

3. DOOM ; Feeling that the beginning was kind of slow, I initially didn't expect DOOM to end up this high on my list until I got to the back half of the game. Once I'd gotten a full arsenal of weapons and a decent amount of mods and upgrades, it became much, much more fun to play. The manner in which it is able to capture the feeling of playing an old school FPS while fitting it with a bunch of modern trappings is incredibly impressive. Movement is fast and fluid, the gunplay is very satisfying (I dream of the Super Shotgun,) and the balance of managing ammo, health, gasoline, and the powerups in the room makes every encounter into a fun, frantic puzzle to solve.

4. Dark Souls III ; About this time last year I'd fully expected that this would have been my game of the year. As a big fan of the previous entries with over thousand combined hours between Dark Souls 1 and 2 alone, it's fair to say that I had fairly high expectations from this game, and in a few key ways it fell short. Even in spite of whatever criticisms I might lay at the game, it's hard to deny all of the things it gets right, with its incredible level design, cool new bosses and enemies, and excellent pacing.

5. Hitman ; It's been a while since I'd played a Hitman game and I'm glad to have come back with this one. It's been a blast both to play and to watch others play. I love the tone that they've struck with the dialogue, crazy assassinations, and weird gags sprinkled throughout.

6. Sid Meier's Civilization VI ; I feel kind of strange putting this on here as I don't play a ton of Civ or 4X games in general, so I know that the game that I played is very different from that which more experienced players have played. With that said, I was completely captivated for the entire playthrough. I enjoy the narratives it's able to generate over the course of the game, and when the game is about to draw to a close, thinking back at where it started and looking at all of the progress made is so gratifying.

7. Uncharted 4 ; After being somewhat disappointed by Uncharted 3 and having now played a number of games in this vein, I wasn't particularly thrilled by the announcement of Uncharted 4. Having played it, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it. The "wide linear" design really does help with the feeling of so much of these games being on rails. Great performances delivered by the cast.

8. Titanfall 2 ; Great campaign that doesn't overstay its welcome, regularly providing new scenarios to keep things fresh. The shooting feels good, but the real star of the show is the mobility your character has. Shooting guys down while running along a wall, flying overhead, or sliding under a door gives me so much joy.

9. Stellaris ; Similarly with Civ, I'm very much a novice with these types of games, and Stellaris in particular was the first Paradox game I've played. Loved the atmosphere of the game from how it looks and its soundtrack. I'm looking forward to seeing how the game evolves as they release new expansions for it.

10. Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight ; While I'm not a big fan of the cutesy anime art style, and there's a strange amount of time devoted to slapping giant witch tits, it really is a nice looking game. It controls well and the combat is basic but fun, though I wish it were a bit more varied as enemies can be easily stun-locked to death. Really enjoyed the exploring the world, I just wish there was a bit more of it to explore and more abilities to make use of.


x. Picross 3D: Round 2 ; Oh God, there are so many puzzles. I can't put this damned thing down. Somebody, please, make it stop.
x. Pony Island ; The actual gameplay and puzzles aren't much to write home about, but it has a cool narrative.
x. Superhot ; Creative mechanics that make you feel like a badass action movie star. I didn't really stick with it after finishing the story, but it was a rad couple of hours.


Games that I either have only played a short amount, or haven't had a chance to play yet, but are up my alley: The Witness, Twilight Struggle, Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma, Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice, Day of Infamy, Grim Dawn

 

[Riposte]

I can't believe I made it to three parts lol...


Closing Thoughts:

Now the fun part where I list some of the games I regret not playing in time for 2016's list: Mirror's Edge, Total War: Warhammer, Raiden V, Tyranny, Gears of War 4, Hearts of Iron IV, Steins;Gate 0, Attack on Titan, Battlefield 1, King of Fighters XIV, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. I started and put down Stranger of Sword City, which has been pretty amazing so far, because I had to wrap up this list. I held off on Pokemon Sun and Moon in hopes of a Switch version.


In review / for the tally:
1. Hitman ; Top class sandbox, the return of social stealth.
2. Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest ; The other two games are irrelevant to this list, tbh.
3. Dark Souls III ;
4. Titanfall 2 ;
5. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun ;
6. Street Fighter V ;
7. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ;
8. XCOM 2 ;
9. DOOM ;
10. Overwatch ;
x. Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright – Spirit of Justice ;
x. Civilization VI ;
x. Dishonored 2 ;
x. Furi ;
x. Let It Die ;
x. Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse ;
x. Uncharted 4 ;
x. Xanadu NEXT ;

 

[ConfusingJazz]

1. Stellaris ; I put way too much time into this game. I wish it was more fleshed out, but I kept coming back to it none the less.
2. Overwatch ; When you live overseas, you need to find reasons to connect with your old friends. This was one of those games.
3. Tyranny ; I love RPGs. I love Obsidian. This was a no brainer. Still working on it, which is why it's not higher.
4. Hearts of Iron IV ; I like Paradox games, leave me alone. Last one, I swear!
5. Stardew Valley ; Awesome, relaxing, and fun.
6. Picross 3D: Round 2 ; How can I make this commute last just a bit longer so I can solve this puzzle?
7. Ultimate Chicken Horse ; Played a lot with my friends here.
8. Civilization VI ; Still not Civ IV.
9. Super Hot ; It's super hot.
10. Crusader Kings II: The Reaper's Due ; Because I made a mistake, and I still play a lot of CK2, and it's paradox.

 

[Stoze]

As always, wish I had more time to sink into Hitman or Dishonored 2, so you'll just have to put up with my love for the shorter games of 2016!

You listed Virginia as number eight instead of ten btw, don't let Quad Cow get overwritten!

 

[AudioEppa]

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; There's never been a video game more deserving of the title 'masterpiece' The visionary program wizards at Naughty Dog created every chapter of once new age, now retired pirate Nathan Drake's unexpected last adventure with pure love. Most video games pride themselves on doing certain things well. Here. Uncharted 4 does everything extremely well. And beyond so much more. From storytelling. Moment to moment pacing. Attention to detail. Creating the most real to life atmosphere in any game to date.

This year marks 10 years since the franchise was first released on November 20th 2007. And saying goodbye to the three core characters of Drake. Elena Fisher and Victor "Goddamn" Sullivan left me with nothing but bitter sweet sorrow of emotions. Bidding farewell to family. One last time.

It's been well documented for months now. This game isn't universally loved. As if any game truly can be. But for certain individuals within the gaming community. Uncharted 4 is a victim of not wanting to be a video game. Somehow we are still having this tired argument after many years of video games (finally!) branching out into different directions with how they're presented. Cinematic storytelling has always been apart of this franchises DNA. As priority first.

Uncharted 4's development saw a change with director duties being passed onto Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann. Ending the series run of Amy Hennig. This decision upset those who believe Uncharted would somehow (in their flawed perspective) lose it's identity to copy the formula of naughty dogs other blockbuster hit. The Last of Us. Developed by Bruce and Neil. Scared of losing their goofy fun shoot em up in exchange for "seriousness" Certain individuals made it almost there daily mission to pre criticize development. While others, such as myself. Welcomed the change. While still enjoying the previous installments.

As of this writing. It has been eight months since the release of A Thief's End. Within almost every discussion regarding the game on Neogaf. A cycle of a few displeased individuals who would love the world to believe this game isn't deserving of GOTY. Have become (unsurprisingly) a bit less vocal. As reality outside of their bubble has told them once again, to quiet down. Uncharted 4 is the most rewarded video game of 2016. Among critics. And most importantly. The people.

In the end. Uncharted 4 is not a victim. But simply a classic among the greats before it. As video games continue to cinematically evolve. Naughty Dog. Sony Interactive Entertainment's #1 Studio. Is leading the way for young. And forever young at heart gamers to experience interactive art by women and men that are confident, yet never satisfied of their abilities to wow us.

The unfortunate victim of this games success is those who are chained to the mentality that this franchise was about them looking for cheap thrills. Without anything serious. Something that is totally fine if this was any other series. In actuality it was always Naughty Dogs's narrative of a treasure hunters life. From small beginnings.

The most important treasure Nathan Drake ever discovered was the courage of letting go. Behind all the respectable criticized talk. More than less there is a hatred for Uncharted 4 winning game of the year awards. Certain people within our community, like in the game. Can't let go. And feel like they need gaming to represent a few, not all.


Embrace the future of video games, or get left behind.

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is my Game of the Year.

 

[Benzychenz]

Was planning to write up a nice post but last minute ballot it is.
I made some banners at least but gonna have to skimp on the write ups.

1. Pokemon Sun and Moon ; Massive leap for the franchise, and gave me an excitement to get back to the game every day that I haven't felt since I was a kid.

2. The Last Guardian ; Was a phenomenal journey with Trico. The troubled development didn't show as this game was a focused vision from beginning to end.

3. Dragon Quest Builders ; Stunning combination of building game and JRPG. Had so much fun working through the story and building up my towns.

4. Dark Souls III ; Brought fantastic fast paced combat into the Dark Souls series. With amazing level design throughout and some of the best bosses in the series, I'm going to love revisiting this one for years to come.

5. Steins Gate 0 ; Noticeably weaker than the first game but still fantastic. Had some really emotional scenes and a great cast of characters. Maho in particular was a phenomenal new addition with some amazing scenes.

6. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; A great JRPG from Atlus. Full of style throughout and a fun journey.

7. Final Fantasy XV ; Rough around the edges but still a good game. The four boys were a great party and I enjoyed going on their journey, and messing around in the open world section of the game was great. Stunning OST as well.

8. Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past ; Great remake of a game I never played. Had a ton of fun going through all the little story arcs, and the job system was great.

9. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth ; Great little RPG and gave me a ton of Digimon nostalgia.

10. Ratchet & Clank ; Wasn't a fan of the story changes, but the gameplay was fantastic and the game is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Deputy Dangle]

1. The Last Guardian ; The kind of game that reminds me how incredibly empathetic video games can be made with the sort of unorthodox design decisions that resonate strongly with me at a production scale that is unheard of these days. A beautiful anomaly.

2. Samorost 3 ; Re-posted from the game's woefully short-lived OT: So I found myself really fascinated by the series' decade-plus-long shift from bite-sized Flash point 'n click project with a slightly surreal, firmly environmentalist bent to a contemplative sci-fi fable that greatly expands upon the prior two game's ideas. Where Samorost 1 and 2 showed Amanita Design as a budding Czech developer learning how to use genre conventions in unusual settings, Samorost 3 is a return to those conventions and settings with a new perspective and a decade of experience.

After finishing it, I was a bit surprised by some of the critical reception negatively pointing at how stubbornly it adheres to the structure of a late 90's/early 00's adventure game. I think this detail is a conscious decision on Amanita's part, especially after hearing how loosely Botanicula sticks to these kinds of conventions. Here, Amanita reframes well-worn conventions with the same inquisitive drive that Gnome shares in exploring new planets. Much like Samorost 1 and 2, puzzles are mostly based around sequences, but Samorost 3, with its richer soundscape, often treats its puzzles like refining a sequence of notes. Along with the soundtrack having more of a whimsical identity, there's a sense of musicality to the creatures and objects you interact with in the environment, which makes these spaces feel more lively and inviting the further you look.

The recurring harmony of organic & technological elements is a motif used throughout the Samorost series. There's a clarity in its usage in the first two games, which I mostly contribute to their brevity. But in Samorost 3, that harmony isn't solely found in its art direction; it's shared across its design philosophies and musical core. Samorost 3 is a humble game. It's the kind of idiosyncratic work that results from gestating for half a decade. Being able to share the sights and sounds of a distant planet means the world to it. And I was happy to tag along.

3. Firewatch ;
4. Overwatch ;

5. Mafia 3 ; Secretly the most thematically rich thriller narrative I've experienced this year, regardless of the medium. The kind of stuff I want to see from Hollywood and blockbuster video games but rarely get. Also, I love its more lowkey approach to player expressivity in combat with the punchiest combat of the year.

6. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ;
7. The Witness ;
8. Street Fighter V ;
9. Thumper ;
10. Dishonored 2 ;

Honorable Mentions
x. DOOM ; This is a really cleverly handled modern re-imagining of a classic that also kinda glosses over the playfulness that came with og id's approach to encounter design. That overlooked detail played a big part in why the game felt so long in the tooth for me. It's like a technically sound band that fills out an entire album with one type of high intensity speed metal track and never deviates from that one kind of sound throughout its 15 hour duration.

x. Titanfall 2 ; Hey, this game's campaign is DOOM but shorter, scrappier, and creative. There are peaks and valleys to how it approaches shooter level design, which is something I really respect when they have the confidence to design a level around a theme or a mechanic and choose to move on from that idea after said level ends. This probably would have made by list, but I have trouble stomaching how much they butchered the multiplayer side of a sequel to one of my favorite shooters of the past decade. How could they do that to Hardpoint?

I underestimated how much time I had left lol

 

[Drastic]

Forza Horizon 3 ; The best open world racer ever.
Battlezone ; VR got me back into gaming, this game adds the nostalgia.
Driveclub VR ; Track racing in VR.
Sky Force Anniversary ; My fav shmup.
Trackmania Turbo ; New VR mode rocks.
Until Dawn: Rush of Blood ; Excellent VR rail shooter
F1 2016 ; Best F1 game ever.
Dirt Rally ; Best Rally game ever.
Eagle Flight ;
Prominence Poker ;

 

[Wowbagger]

1. The Witness ; Feels like cheating putting this in my list, let alone in first place, but what little I've played of it so far have been so utterly compelling that I can't help it. Besides, I'm probably just a puzzle or two from getting completely stuck. Usually bored by the genre, but this island is a joy to explore and the puzzles incredibly well designed (ie. they make me feel smart!).
2. Inside
3. Gone Home: Console Edition
4. Dark Souls III
5. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
6. Titanfall 2

 

[PhantomKnight]

1. The Last Guardian ; This game is a masterpiece. Shadow of the colossus is my second favourite game of all time, so my expectation of this game was really high. Not only did this game meet my expectation but it surpassed it. This game had my attention from beginning to the end it was perfect. The design of the game was great, the music of the game was extraordinary, the art of the game was beautiful. Am not a person that likes puzzle but this game had just the right difficulty of puzzles which gave me a satisfying feeling. Controlling the boy gave me no issue, even though people complain about the controls of the kid I had little problems with it, it demonstrated how it feels to play a fragile little boy that can barely defend himself which felt different than most games I've played this year and in my life. This game is not perfect, there were some framerate and camera issue but those did not ruin the experience of the game. But the one thing that truly made this game a masterpiece was the relationship between the boy and Trico. Last summer I got a dog, and my relationship with it felt similar to Trico and the boy, never have I felt connected to characters like those two. Like my dog, Trico is stubborn and doesn't listen but you will have to be patient with him. The Last Guardian is a beautiful adventure, and I implore everybody to at least try it, it is truly a special game. As I mentioned in the beginning Shadow is my second favourite game of all time. The Last Guardian has overtaken that spot and to this day I am still contemplating if it overtakes my number one favourite game Kingdom Hearts 2. Thank you, Ueda, for creating this game. The Last Guardian will always have a special place in my heart.
2. Final Fantasy XV ; Final fantasy XV has a lot of problems, in particular, the reason I fell in love with the series, the story. Not only the story but most of the characters, boss battles etc. But there were 2 saving grace the combat and the main characters. I really loved the combat of the game, while not perfect and annoying for certain bosses and enemies I can't deny that the combat was fun. But the main characters is where the game shines, spending hours driving and running around the world made me grow attached to these characters and one of my favourite scenes in the game was the motel scene with Noctis and Prompto, where it was the first time I felt for the characters in that world. The game is really beautiful and fun, and despite the problem with the story if Tabata goal was following the journey of Noctis and his three companions and caring for them, I must say he succeeded in that. This game showed me there is still life in Final Fantasy.
3. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; Uncharted series is one of my favourite series that spawned from last generation, the three previous game were great, but this game surpassed them. This game plays well, is really beautiful and has a great story. The reason the game shines are the characters, in particular, Drake and Elena. And I also have to mention the ending of the game, which ended the journey of Nathan Drake in a perfect way, and has one of the best ending of a series I have played in gaming. Good job Naughty Dog.
4. Overwatch ; I am not a multiplayer person, the last mp game I invested in was black ops last generation. When the game was announced I was interested in it only because the animated short were fun, did not care much for the game. Then I played the beta and had so much fun with I bought the game day 1. I think I put in 40-50 hours into the game making it my most played online game ever. This game is really fun.
5. Ratchet and Clank ; Fun, action packed game. Only played tools of destruction which I liked, but this game made me a fan of the series, hopefully, there will be a sequel.
6. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth ; Not far in the game but from what I played this game is great. Getting Digimon and training and evolving them is great and the so far the plot of the game is intriguing.
7. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 ; I haven't played a dbz game since the ps2 days. While this game isn't on the same level as the ones I've played. I still loved the game and happy there is a dragon ball game I enjoy and with Super airing 2016 was a great year for dragon ball.
8. World of Final Fantasy ; Haven't played the game for long but loving the tone so far.
9. Batman: The Telltale Series ; Loved the direction the game story went, would have been higher on my list, but the game, in particular, the last episode is a technical mess
10.Naruto shippuden ultimate ninja storm 4 ; Great conclusion to the ultimate ninja series.

Honorable Mentions:
x. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
x. Valkyria Chronocles Remasterd

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Cutting it close but might as well throw my vote in. Like almost every year it feels I missed a ton of games or didn't give them enough time that had potential to make the list but you gotta work with what you have. Here's my favourite games of 2016:

1. World of Warcraft: Legion ; I haven't played WoW since the start of Cataclysm so it's been a while. I was fully content on never returning despite loving the game every time I did play but I was interested in how Blizzard would react to the less than warm reception of Warlords of Dreanor. I didn't play it but even as an observer it was clear people have never been so hostile towards the game. That and I'm a sucker for any Warcraft 3 nostalgia hooks which this game sorta is. I'm one of those crazy people who always preferred Vanilla over expansions and the type of game WoW evolved into over the years but I gotta say, Legion is the best ''modern WoW'' (at least the ones I have played) has ever been. I have sunk ungodly amount of time into the game playing just one character and just when I was about to get tired they drop a new big raid on me. And despite some pointless grinding and some horrible design and balancing decisions I don't regret a single second of it.

2. Umineko When They Cry ; My all time favourite and most hated VN. I played it back when the fan translations dropped but I revisited now that it got an official release. It suffers mainly from terrible pacing issues at points but I just cannot deny the atmosphere it creates. It's a rollercoaster ride of crazy and there is nothing quite like it. Haunted house setting is always my jam and the soundtrack is out of this world.

3. Civilization VI ; Best vanilla CiV release of all time should bode well for what the game turns into after a few expansions drop. Even in it's current state it's a blast to play AI warts and all. Time sink number two for me this year.

4. Final Fantasy XV ; Surprise of the year for me. I was very sceptical for this one but ended up really enjoying it. Final Fantasy is on a much better track than it used to be and hopefully XVI gets enough time to be a truly finished product.

5. Uncharted 4 ; Great end to a great franchise. Top tier presentation, acting and action held back by poor pacing. This is the game that made me realize I enjoy cutscenes as a narrative tool so much more than ''walking simulator'' parts. Multiplayer is pretty great too.

6. Ratchet & Clank ; Great reboot of sorts, plus points for being a cheaper release despite it not needing to be.

7. Shantae: Half-Genie Hero ; While I love retro platformers I'm a bit tired of the good ol pixel style. This is just what I need to get back into the indie train. Best looking game of the year.

8. World of Final Fantasy ; Fun fanservice game and a treat for us who miss the turn based systems of the franchise. Great humour at times too.

9. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth ; Good to more smaller budget JRPGs that don't feel like total trash. Also I used to be a big Digimon fan so that helps.

10. Zero Time Dilemma ; A fuckin dissapointment when you think back to it but still a real fun game for a playthrough.

 

[Terra_Ex]

1. The Witcher III: Blood & Wine ; Capitalises on and understands that its protagonist and supporting characters are its greatest strength. While other AAA WRPG sequels squander their potential, this expansion is a superb last outing for Geralt and co that understands meeting and exceeding fan expectations results in a happy fanbase. It's not even funny how badly this expansion pack puts other full releases to shame. Cannot be lauded highly enough for not dropping the ball on giving proper closure to Geralt's story in the current age of AAA gaming.
2. XCOM 2 ; Designing your game around the strengths of PC first and then porting to consoles later resulted in a far superior game. A true pleasure to play through. Bonus props for stellar mod support, there are not many devs that'd go as far as these guys did.
3. Dishonored 2 ; A great sequel, let down somewhat by technical issues at launch. Excellent stealth mechanics and wonderful level design throughout.
4. Tyranny ; Something's still missing in Obsidian's spiritual successors to the IE games but surprisingly this hooked me more than Pillars did. The writing didn't feel as dry as it did in Pillars, companion characters were interesting and I wasn't drowning in a river of gold plated backer NPCs in every location in the game.
5. Hitman ; I knew since playing the closed alpha this would be the Blood Money successor we'd been waiting for. The correct way to respond to fan criticism, go back to what worked, iterate and refine. Again, as with other examples in my list, it was a matter of giving the *core* fanbase what they asked for and word of mouth will take it from there. Also makes excellent use of the episodic format, which was always going to be a great fit for the game. Minus points for the online connectivity requirements.
6. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided ; It's a great game but something's missing, can't put my finger on what exactly, but I found Jensen working under Sarif Industries more compelling than what we got here. I don't think the Parisian setting really worked for or supported what the game was going for on an aesthetic level, the cold blues of the UNATCO building or the yellow filter of Detroit were far more memorable. Excellent level design.
7. Uncharted 4 ; Beautiful visuals and so many great moments and set pieces. Some really nice, touching moments with Nate and Elena certainly stick in my mind as being particularly praiseworthy.
8. Stardew Valley ; For reasons best known to them, the developers of the Harvest Moon series steadfastly refused to improve and build upon on the popular formula of Back to Nature, Mineral Town and HM64 and since those outings have meandered down the river of mediocrity. Eventually some other guy came along and did it for them, enjoying huge critical success and delivering the best game of its type. A strong example of how leaving your core fanbase behind leaves money on the table. What can I say, we finally got the Harvest Moon sequel we'd been asking for.
9. Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse ; Wish I'd had enough time to really sink my teeth into it but it's another great entry to the core SMT franchise with numerous improvements on its predecessor.
10. Stellaris ; A great take on the genre and surprisingly easy to get into. Numerous QoL improvements since release have further elevated the game in my estimation.

Honorable Mentions
x. DOOM ; Had a lot of fun with this one, not a huge fan of shooters in general but this kept me entertained and didn't overstay its welcome.
x. Final Fantasy XV ; Not really played enough to make a judgement but the banters and a solid battle system made a nice first impression

 

[Cheesemeister]

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. NO FURTHER BALLOTS OR EDITS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

 

[Ramenman]

EDIT : DAMN IM SO LATE.

too bad I guess.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

EDIT : DAMN IM SO LATE.

too bad I guess.

1. DISHONORED 2 ; the best sandbox. The most creative. Incredible art direction. Stunning sense of place and indirect storytelling. And infinitely replayable marvel of design, and much more.

2. SUPER HOT ; comment.

3. MIRROR'S EDGE CATALYST ; comment.

4. RATCHET & CLANK ; comment.

RIP :d

 

[Riposte]

I'll ask one last time, for old times sake, but could this thread stay open for awhile after the results come in? I would love to fix up what I posted and it's a better place to discuss lists, should people be interested in doing so (results thread is usually results/year in review and posting affinity lists).

EDIT Slick moves, Napalm lol

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Hitman was DOPE

 

[peakish]

snip

Nice write up and post as usual, Messofanego! Bookmarked Severed, 1979 and Aragami, they all look very interesting. I've had KRZ lying around on my hard drive for a while but never got around to playing it, I'll bump it on my priority queue.

Hope you get some time for Dishonored 2 in the next year!

 

[d00d3n]

I'll ask one last time, for old times sake, but could this thread stay open for awhile after the results come in? I would love to fix up what I posted and it's a better place to discuss lists, should people be interested in doing so (results thread is usually results/year in review and posting affinity lists).

EDIT Slick moves, Napalm lol

One of the mods said that the thread will be kept open but moved to the community section after the results thread is done.

 

[Riposte]

One of the mods said that the thread will be kept open but moved to the community section after the results thread is done.

Oh! Well, thanks mods!

 

[newjeruse]

Considering what a great year this was for games, surprised to see that this year's thread is about 2/3 the size of last year's.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Considering what a great year this was for games, surprised to see that this year's thread is about 2/3 the size of last year's.

Last year GAF had to rise to make sure that Bloodborne didn't get robbed.

 

[Grexeno]

Considering what a great year this was for games, surprised to see that this year's thread is about 2/3 the size of last year's.

Last year had Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, and Phantom Pain

 

[newjeruse]

Last year GAF had to rise to make sure that Bloodborne didn't get robbed.

Completely justifiable.

 

[RespectThySole]

Considering what a great year this was for games, surprised to see that this year's thread is about 2/3 the size of last year's.

This year didn't have a game that GAF loved as much as Bloodborne or The Witcher. Not surprised.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

I finished editing mine with 1 minute to spare!

Feels so good.

So many good posts to read now...

 

[Joeku]

Welp, thought it was 9 PM. Just sat down to write it. Whoops!

Oh well, best of luck to Doom >

 

[ThanksVision]

Welp, thought it was 9 PM. Just sat down to write it. Whoops!

Oh well, best of luck to Doom >

So did I, lol. whoops!