" -The Hat Mann
Best Games Of 2016 · 3:50pm Dec 31st, 2016
2016's been a bit of a downer year. My grandfather died after a truck slammed into him on a bike, a dog named Taco that I raised from birth also got hit by a truck, and lastly, one of my other dogs, Greta, had to be put down because of organ failure. Plus countless celebrities died, what is quite possibly the most toxic presidential election in history happened, and in general, a lot of bullshit happened this year. But despite me just making a paragraph saying why the year wasn't good, I want to do a highlight reel of something that was great this year: gaming. Note that this will mostly be games that I have played myself, or have watched someone else play to completion, so Uncharted 4 and Stellaris will not be here. Secondly, it must be a game that actually came out this year, not re-released. As such, the Bioshock Collection and Skyrim Special Edition will not be on this list either. There is only one exception to these rules, and that is our first entry:
Never before have I seen such a revival of a franchise. As many might remember, the original Watch Dogs was a massive disappointment, falling far short of the experience Ubisoft promised, but was still a decent game in its own right. Watch Dogs 2, though? 9/10 on Steam, 8/10 on Gamespot, and onwards. Watch Dogs went from being one of Ubisoft's biggest laughing stocks to it's geatest success this year. Well, when it comes to reception at least. It's selling piss poor. Speaking of good games that aren't selling well...
Dishonored 2 is my personal game of the year. I was quite fond of the original game once I figured out how to play it properly, and Dishonored 2 continues that. It has some of the best stealth gameplay I've ever seen, brilliant level design, a pretty good story in my opinion, great characters, great lore, and is just generally great. Where Dishonored 2 suffers to my mind, is that you can't replay levels. While this is being promised as a patch later, I feel it's something that desperately needs to be in. Unlike many people, I actually really like the voice acting, with my favorites being Erica Luttrell, Stephen Russell, Vincent D'Onofrio and Robin Lord Taylor playing Emily, Corvo, Duke Abele, and The Outsider respectively. And as a finishing note, I'm proud to say that I managed a playthrough were I got Clean Hands and Shadow at the same time. Moving on to our next entry:
Firewatch is brilliant. It has what is easily the best story on this list, and is bloody beautiful to look at. The characters are great, the forrest provides great atmosphere of various moods depending on what the plot calls for, and is just a joy to experience. If you want to play this game, play it soon so you don't get spoiled on the story. If you're interested but don't want to spend the money, there are several walkthroughs that cover the complete game. Plus, it's made by the same guys who did The Walking Dead Telltale game, so you know it has something of quality to it. Speaking of watching...
Overwatch is one of the few online shooters where I can trust my team to not be complete gibbons most of the time. After TF2 died in a blaze of misguided efforts, broken dreams, and hats, Overwatch stepped in introduce a new team-focused class-based shooter. I have experienced more intense moments playing this game than any other. Whether it be launching a nuke into the middle of the enemy team as D.Va, making a final stand to push the payload as Reinhardt, or a duel to the death 1v1 as Tracer, Overwatch always provides. Though if you're not into sci-fi, here's a blast from the past:
Between Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 being met with praise, I have to wonder if EA's beginning to turn a new leaf, at least when it comes to game development. Regardless, Battlefield 1 is good, especially if you like WW1 history. Yes, it's historically inaccurate in a lot of places, but it has to be a game first, and a representation of the Great War second. It's beautiful looking, and the weather system in multiplayer allows for some nice added difficulty. If I had one complaint, it would be that despite being set in WW1, I don't think you ever actually visit the trenches outside of one mission in the air campaign. Most of the time, you're just running towards the enemy paying you don't get shot.
Remember this game? A demo was released a few years ago, and it was big online. Well, it officially released this year! And the gameplay is brilliant! Dodging bullets, watching guys die and disintegrate in slow motion, and then watching it back in real time is incredibly satisfying. My only complaint is that the game is incredibly unforgiving, where even times where it looks like a bullet's going to miss you still somehow kills you. You know, I've put a lot of shooters on this list. Maybe it's time I put something different on.
As usual, Phoenix Wright gave a fantastic experience. The soundtrack is fantastic, the story's pretty good, a lot of the old cast finally makes a return after years of absence, and bloody hell, that second case. The Magical Turnabout is by far one of my favorite cases in the entire series, and has the best villain reveal since the second game. Admittedly, I have not seen past the first investigation segment of case 3, but based on the review scores, I think it's safe to say most of them are pretty good.
Well, that's my lot. Anything you guys think should be here? Anything you think SHOULDN'T be here? Let me know.
Pretty solid list all around, Cynical.
Yeah Watch Dogs 2 has been surprising with how excellent it is. I really think it was the tone shift that did it justice. I mean, the whole concept is just...silly when you think about it.
Funnily enough I actually finished DIshonored (Original) last night, and it was pretty excellent. Glad to hear the sequel is so pleasing to everyone.
Firewatch I've heard is pretty good. Not a fan of the walking sim genre, but I may have to give it a go.
Yeah Overwatch definitely deserves a spot. There's just something for everyone here, and I absolutely love that.
Battlefield 1 is definitely fun, but I can't say I'm familiar enough with the multiplayer to call it GOTY material just yet. Still, pretty awesome game.
Superhot seems like one of those games that should have been made years ago with such a brilliant concept.
And of course Phoenix Wright would be on here. He's bloody Phoenix Wright!
...meanwhile I sit in the shadows and weep as I realize we're never getting an official release of Investigations 2.
Overall, pretty solid list my friend.
4362660 Thanks, mate.
TBH, it probably wouldn't be as good as the fan localization anyways.
Personal favorite game of the year?
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My personal list of games of the year?
Doom
Firewatch
Pokemon Sun/Moon
Pony Island (Yes, really.)
Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice
Dark Souls 3
Titanfall 2
And that's it. (And honestly, I wasn't a big fan of Overwatch. I don't know why, I just found myself growing kinda bored with it after only a couple of hours.)
Nice games.
Glad I know at least a few of them
I have the biggest love-hate relationship with Battlefield 1 hue.
On one hand, I absolutely adore the intense, fast-paced, chaotic, bullshit insanery that is the multiplayer's gameplay.
One day, DICE will nerf that fucking shotgun. I can only hope.
On the other hand, I'm a massive history-nut when it comes to WW1. It's always been a conflict that's fascinated me to no end.
And there are so many things regarding representation that drive me up the wall XD.
I could make a list, but we'd be here all day, and Y'all probably have better things to do than watch some obsessive wanker rant about historical accuracy in a video game, lel.
4364360 Heh, yeah. My complaint about it? The Russian and French empires are never even mentioned, and there's no German campaign.
4365621
Oh they are.
France is getting some DLC in March.
>tfw the workhorse of the western front is dlc
Russia, I'm not too sure about.
This, personally, wouldn't have normally bothered me, I'm used to the 'enemy' being portrayed as nothing but the enemy.
However, they made a statement at the start, during that prologue mission.
And then they proceed to portray every member of the Central Powers as an emotionless bullet-sponge for you to shoot, and all the Entente as human beings with emotions, fears, strengths, and flaws.
literally like, 20 minutes in, and already they're contradicting themselves
My biggest issue is how absolutely everywhere they shove America in, in a WW1 game, but there's absolutely zero mention of Canada, Serbia, or Belgium, Italy and Austria-Hungary are just sorta there, Australia only gets a tiny 1-2 hour passing mention, France is being reduced to a dlc expansion you have to pay extra for, and the entirety of The Eastern Front so far is being ignored.
At least Britain got plenty of attention, or I might have shat in an arc in the direction of DICE's hq
also, and this is purely a nitpick of mine, the presence of the MP18 and Shotgun in battles that predate 1918, when the Mp18 entered service, or 1917, when America came into play and introduced the shotgun.
there's more, but. Like I said. We'd be here all day.
4366032 My thing is that WW1 was the turning point of Russia that started changes that would last nearly a century. Wouldn't it be interesting to have a Russian campaign where at the end, you had to chose between the Bolsheviks and the Loyalists, and that division was a constant theme during the campaign?
This might just be American education being shitty, but didn't the British/Ottoman war count as part of the Eastern Front? Sure, it's not the Eastern Front as far as Russia, Romania, and Prussia, but still.
4366279 The Ottoman/British war was fought in the middle-east. Places like Egypt and Turkey.
The Eastern Front was, as the name would suggest, Eastern Europe, while the Western Front was fought in Western Europe.