Gwardinen

GOTY.cx 2016

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So I didn't see a GOTY.cx thread for 2016 up yet, and we're approaching the final week of the year. Does anyone have their thoughts in order yet?

 

As a brief visual reminder of some of the games this year, I present PC Gamer's video retrospective below. Couple of caveats: It's only PC games, and there are a few games in there that were shown this year but haven't actually been released yet.

 

 

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Assuming that was accurate enough its cemented my 3 game list. 

 

Firewatch was such a great follow-up to what I liked from the Walking Dead. I still need to replay it with commentary but I loved every inch of that game. 

 

Hyper Light Drifter was a fantastic Zelda with elements of Dark Souls infused back into it. Fun and the right amount of hard, not to mention gorgeous audio and visuals. 

 

Overwatch is the game I've played way too much of this year. It's a nice, tighter and new version of TF2. I wish it was a bit more like it, and less of Blizzard's controlled polish but I've had a lot of fun with it.

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I'm very happy to see some of the games I worked on in that list (everybody play ClusterTruck, it's good!) but they did forget Stephen's Sausage Roll.

 

Just like everyone else, I UNFORTUNATELY don't have time to play every game that comes out. You have to resign yourself to pick your battles in that situation, and I'm sad to say I did not touch Overwatch once.

 

However; I did just last week finish Doom, and it was a wonderful game! You were right, game players! I love games like Devil May Cry, Vanquish, big meaty combat like Gears of War, and I now know that Doom has been missing from that list my whole life. I'm excited to jump into it again on a higher difficulty to really push these enemy and weapon designs and see where they go.

On that same note: Devil Daggers was a really welcome boost earlier this year.

 

I'm sure I would've liked Enter The Gungeon a lot more if I was only good enough at dodging bullets to get very far in it.

 

I promise myself that in 2017 I will actually download and play SuperHot. I'm sure it's a brilliant game.

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The Witness, Firewatch, No Man's Sky, Inside, QuadCow (in no particular order) are my top 5. Factorio, Rimworld and Sunless Sea's expansion are honourable mentions. 

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Apparently I only play games that have their titles in all caps.

 

1. INSIDE

2. XCOM 2

3 .DOOM

 

 

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This year I bought more new games than I have for many, many years because I upgraded my computer for the first time in a while, so I'm in a much better position to judge games for my GOTY than I usually am. But I still find myself seeing lots of things that I'm sure would do really well on my list that I haven't played, like DOOM, the new Deus Ex, the new Mirror's Edge, Superhot, the Triennale Games Collection, Pony Island, Burly Men at Sea, Virginia, and the new Kentucky Route 0. KR0 in fact is something I usually play so I can vote it #1 GOTY, and I put it off until then because I never want to play them because once I play them they'll be over and I don't want them to be over. KR0 honestly just stands heads and tails above everything else, all the time. It's that good!

 

But in any case, since I haven't played the new KR0 episode yet, here's what I have played:

 

1. Firewatch

2. Quadrilateral Cowboy

3. Titanfall 2

4. Overwatch

5. Battlefield 1

6. Dishonored 2

7. Devil Daggers

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TOP 4 RANKED 2016 GOTYs
4: Rimworld, which was the first of its genre (descendants of Dwarf Fortress, IDK if there's a word people use) to really click with me

3: Obduction, which may be my favorite Myst game now

2: Quadrilateral Cowboy, which is definitely the coolest game on this list, in more than one way

1: The Witness, of which I have too much to say, really.


HONORABLE MENTIONS
Like TychoCelchuuu, I played way more new games this year than I usually do. Most years I would struggle putting together any list at all, but in 2016 I played eight nine 2016 games! And since I enjoyed almost all of them, the non-gotys all get honorable mentions. I suspect XCOM2 would be my number 5 if I played more of it, but for whatever reason it got pushed aside and I need to go back to it. Civilization VI is probably the best vanilla Civ game to ever come out, but after 25 years of civ games and two still-amazing expanded editions (Civs 4 and 5) that apparent superlative doesn't mean as much as you might expect. Pokemon S/M is a Pokemon game that confirmed I still like those. EDIT: I forgot about Imbroglio, because it's a phone game, but it was great too!


I also played Stellaris. I hear it's gotten better.

 

SHAMEFUL LIST OF 2016 GAMES I OWN AND PROBABLY WILL LOVE BUT STILL HAVEN'T PLAYED

Firewatch

 

OLD GAMES THAT I LOVED IN 2016 (aka the real GOTYs)

The Witcher 3

Undertale

Dark Souls

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Every game I played this year that came out this year was great. They were:

 

The Witness

Offworld Trading Company

Stardew Valley

Reigns

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1. Hitman (Its a return to form for one of my favorite game series and it has shown how the episodic format can be done well, can't wait for season 2)

2. Hearts of Iron 4 (How will World War 2 turn out if I play country X and do Y, repeat for ~300 hours since July)

3. Astroneer (A great cute chill out game, perfect way to end the year, can't wait to see how it develops and grows)

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At least some of those games in the video are still in early access. In general I only count fully released games. That leaves me, in no particular order:

 

Witness
Darkest Dungeon
Hitman
Overwatch
Civilization 6

Sunless Sea DLC

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I think people are gonna remember 2016 the same way that people remember like 1998 or 1999. It is just extraordinary how many strong games were released this year. Games that were barely mentioned that in another year would dominate conversations. But this was also the year where people got a lot more pessimistic about the economic logistics of indie games. Also, with a few notable exceptions, I think the real standout games this year were from the big studios. I think a lot of that has to do with a useful change in tone. We're in a post-Bioshock Infinite world where developers realized the self-serious tone of so many games was just unsustainable in the face of the outrageousness of their mechanics and settings. Hitman, Doom, and Overwatch all stand out to me as excellent examples of this new direction forward. All these games leaned into their goofiness and owned what they were rather than try to deflect some shittiness with irony. More of that, please.

 

I don't even know how to pick a game this year, I'm not really sure what criteria would make sense to use. I do know that I played an awful lot of Hitman, XCOM 2, and Imbroglio this year. So I think those are all worthy contenders. I also think that new Super Mario game for the iphones is quite good.

 

The shorter games that left the biggest impact on me were Thumper, Inside, Hyper Light Drifter, and Quadrilateral Cowboy.

 

I also liked Dishonored 2 a lot, and I'm finally warming up to Dark Souls 3 after initially thinking it was the worst game From Software has made yet.

 

I still haven't played that new Deus Ex game.

 

I was quite high on Civ 6 when it came out, but cooled on it after about 2 weeks. Reading the balance changes for it last night was quite disappointing. Still not as disappointing as Stellaris though.

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This was the year I started playing Payday 2

 

I played a lot of Payday 2! I'd still be playing it but I had enough bad experiences where the combination of my low-speed internet and low-powered laptop made getting into and staying in games really hard, and I fell out of the habit. But it was fun. Payday 2 is worth learning and playing.

 

That's the only non-Wizard Jam game I played this year that one could possibly maybe consider a 2016 game.

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1 hour ago, sclpls said:

I think people are gonna remember 2016 the same way that people remember like 1998 or 1999. It is just extraordinary how many strong games were released this year. Games that were barely mentioned that in another year would dominate conversations. But this was also the year where people got a lot more pessimistic about the economic logistics of indie games. Also, with a few notable exceptions, I think the real standout games this year were from the big studios. I think a lot of that has to do with a useful change in tone. We're in a post-Bioshock Infinite world where developers realized the self-serious tone of so many games was just unsustainable in the face of the outrageousness of their mechanics and settings. Hitman, Doom, and Overwatch all stand out to me as excellent examples of this new direction forward. All these games leaned into their goofiness and owned what they were rather than try to deflect some shittiness with irony. More of that, please.

 

I don't even know how to pick a game this year, I'm not really sure what criteria would make sense to use. I do know that I played an awful lot of Hitman, XCOM 2, and Imbroglio this year. So I think those are all worthy contenders. I also think that new Super Mario game for the iphones is quite good.

 

The shorter games that left the biggest impact on me were Thumper, Inside, Hyper Light Drifter, and Quadrilateral Cowboy.

 

I also liked Dishonored 2 a lot, and I'm finally warming up to Dark Souls 3 after initially thinking it was the worst game From Software has made yet.

 

I still haven't played that new Deus Ex game.

 

I was quite high on Civ 6 when it came out, but cooled on it after about 2 weeks. Reading the balance changes for it last night was quite disappointing. Still not as disappointing as Stellaris though.

 

Which balance changes?

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What's your choice, Gwardinen?

 

This year, I mostly spent time catching up on my backlog, but I did play more games than for a few years. We've had a number of free weekends throughout the last 12 months, and of course Ubi were giving away old games (good ones!) as part of their 30th anniversary celebration, which hasn't helped my backlog at all, but it does mean I've been able to sample this year's top titles. Some were good (Overwatch, DOOM, BF1) some were flawed (Steep) and some I couldn't get working (Titanfall 2... goddammit EA, get your shit together)

 

Anyway, here's my 3 based on the few releases from 2016 I played. For a more considered opinion on the indie games I didn't get round to, maybe ask this time next year?

 

DOOM - such a refreshing take on the FPS. No cowering behind chest-high walls, regain health by punching demons in their faces! Ripping and tearing has never been so fluid - I love it. We'll be talking about this one for years to come, saying "yes, this is how you should do a remake" every time another game falls short.

 

Overwatch - How does Blizzard manage to get 23 characters so well balanced? The map design is perfect, too - vastly different playstyles are viable in a small space. Fantastic, unbelieveable, amazing.

 

Grow Up - A tough follow-up to a suprise favourite game, Grow Home. Traversing the world was great fun, the trade-off being a less focussed experience. If Grow Home didn't exist, people would be raving about how good Grow Up is, but alas. Definitely a top pick of 2016 for me.

 

I also feel bad for December games that get missed off these lists (like 2014's best game, The Talos Principle) so I'm giving a shoutout to Just Cause 3 (2015), which is like a mediterranean holiday, only with less destruction.

 

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1 hour ago, sclpls said:

Imbroglio

 

Fuck, I forgot about Imbroglio. I wonder how many other gems I've overlooked due to sheer volume of good games.

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10. Dark Souls 3

9. Uncharted 4

8. Thumper

7. The Witness

6. Hitman

5. Dishonored 2

4. INSIDE

3. Kentucky Route Zero

2. Firewatch

1. Hyper Light Drifter.

 

Honorable mentions: DOOM: I remember this game being a blast to play, but it has been completely expunged from my memory otherwise. Virginia: This game was really interesting, and very well done, but it's hard to recommend because of how little there is to interact with in the game.

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I haven't sat down to figure out my overall GOTY list but my off the top top ten would be this:

 

  1. The Last Guardian
  2. Dishonored 2
  3. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (It's my top 10 list and PS2 games can go on there if I want them to!)
  4. Dark Souls 3
  5. Shin Megami Tensei: IV: Apocalypse/Final (From here one there's not really an order yet)
  6. XCOM 2
  7. Pokemon: Sadomasochism
  8. Titanfall 2
  9. DOOM
  10. Stories: The Paths Of Destiny

link to my write ups here: http://vulpesabsurda.tumblr.com/post/155188004912/goty-2016

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I don't think I can clearly name a GOTY for 2016. I've played a lot of games from 2016 which I enjoyed. DooM, Dishonored 2, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, The Witness, iNSiDE, Rise of the Tombraider, Grim Dawn, Firewatch, etc.

But I cannot really decide on a top 3. I think I've enjoyed the 2 big Fallout 4 DLCs, Far Harbor and Nuka World, the most.

 

I can name the biggest disappointment of 2016: Maffia 3

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My picks for the year

 

Hyper Light Drifter
Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Hitman
Dishonored 2
Oxenfree
Ratchet and Clank

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I ended up only liking a lot of games I thought I would love this year. The only game I really and truly loved was Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE.

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I'm terrible at ranking stuff, so here are a few of my faves in no particular order.

 

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Yeah it's old, but the PC version came out this year and it's still great. The harsh open world and the threat of actually dangerous monsters make even the mundane quests feel like a real journey. And the pawn system does some interesting things with asynchronous multiplayer. PSA: the "Into Free" mod is a necessary addition since it restores the great J-Rock title screen song.

 

Stardew Valley

A great modern take on Harvest Moon that's a perfect chill-out game. It's super impressive that it was made by one guy. I keep meaning to get back to this after the big patch that added multiple farm types.

 

Hitman

Perfectly splits the difference between self-seriousness and goofiness in a way that makes this style of sandbox-y sim a blast to play. The episodic release schedule was a great motivator to really dig into each of the levels. And it feels tailor-made for the Twitch Era without feeling like it's pandering to streamers.

 

Titanfall 2

A solid improvement over the first game, plus a short-but-sweet campaign. Still some of the most fun traversal in shooters, and the interplay between pilots and titans creates a lot of great moments. It's too bad this series seems to always get overshadowed by CoD/Battlefield.

 

Let It Die

I've heard it compared to the Souls series and while it's not quite that, it pushes a lot of the same buttons. It can be punishing, but it nails the "one more run" feeling of a good roguelike-whatever-we're-calling-them-these-days. Plus it's oozing with Suda style. Also, it's free! (with a pretty inoffensive monetization model)


Honorable mentions:

Egg, Inc.

My phone spent most of 2016 with some form of idle/clicker game installed so I could waste time at work. Egg, Inc. is one of the better ones.

 

Animal Crossing New Leaf: Welcome Amiibo

Okay, this is just a patch for the 2013 Animal Crossing game, but I was surprised to see Nintendo release a substantial free update for a game that old. And New Leaf is still pretty good!

 

2016 Pile of Shame (hopefully I can get to these in the new year):

Doom

Uncharted 4

Overwatch

Darkest Dungeon

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Top 8:

 

8. Inside

 

Beautiful in both it’s looks and it’s gameplay design. There are a few points where the game throws you into unexpected situations, with completely new gameplay parameters introduced on the spot and expects you to just roll with it. And the amazing thing is how intuitive and obvious those moments end up feeling.

 

7. DOOM

 

Leveling up weapons. Perks. Bonus objectives. Double jumping. Abstract Video game rules like punching a demon gives you health but chainsawing it gives you ammo. There is so much video gamey shit in this, that if anyone had asked me about it beforehand I would’ve said “that does not belong in a Doom game”. I’m glad no one asked me, because all those elements add up to a tremendously fun game. Simply calling it a return to form is doing it a disservice, as it introduces a lot of bold, new ideas into the series as well.

 

6. Hyper Light Drifter

 

Unlike most of my gamer friends, I wasn’t swayed by the kickstarter trailer. Sure, it looked pretty, but I’ve never really been into these 2D action-rpg fantasy kinda thingies. Picked it up in a sale later on and ended up loving it.

 

5. Gravity Rush Remastered

 

Superhero games were starting to get a bit stale. Even things like Infamous: Second Son, which I loved, had pretty ho-hum powers. Jumping SUPER HIGH, shooting fireballs WITH YOUR HANDS. It’s just amped-up versions of what you do in regular action games anyway. Gravity Rush, with it’s gravity-shifting mechanic, is unique in concept and the way it plays. It truly makes you feel like a fantastical being with superhuman powers.

 

4. American Truck Simulator

 

Fixes the only problem Euro Truck Simulator 2 had, which was that it was not set in the good ol’ U.S. of A. This here is finally my trucker dream perfected in video gameform. Behind the wheel of a Kenworth W900, Johnny Cash on the radio, and the setting sun in my eyes as I pull into Tuscon hauling a load of fertilizer.

 

3. Watch Dogs 2

 

Not only builds on the formula of the first one, but boldly cuts things out and introduces new elements to make it more than just “more of the same”. Also has the most likeable and interesting characters in a Ubisoft game since Beyond Good & Evil.

 

2. Steamworld Heist

 

An unexpected delight. Never have I played such a pleasant turn based strategy game. Not even Valkyria Chronicles matches it’s pure… niceness. So nice, I played through it twice.

 

1. Firewatch


This game made me feel things.



 

Honorable mentions:

Super Hot - great concept, but it kinda wears out it’s welcome before it’s brief 2 hour campaign is over, and the story is a buncha derivative fluff.

Quadrilateral Cowboy - great concept, but the game only really comes into it’s own on the final mission, and then it’s over.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst - open world action game with solid parkour and fighting mechanics. Enjoyable but unremarkable.

Dark Souls 3 - the first of the 5 Souls games(yes I’m including Bloodborne) I haven’t bothered finishing. It’s still good, but I think I’ve had my fill of this series.

Pony Island - cray-cray in a good way.

Deadbolt - fun, but too hard to bother finishing.

XCOM 2 - solid game that drove me into fits of rage with it’s random dice rolley bullshit.


 

Dishonorable mentions:

Uncharted 4 - one of my most anticipated titles of this year. Well written and acted characters, great graphics, solid gameplay, some great moments of environmental storytelling, and I absolutely had to force myself to keep playing it every step of the way. When I’d dragged myself to the end of it, I felt nothing.

Far Cry: Primal - stripped out a lot of the good stuff from FC2-4 and didn’t have anything terribly compelling to replace it with.

Unravel - good looks, but dead inside.


 

Still to play:

DX Manky

The Last Guardian

Final Fantasy XV

Duskers

Shadow Tactics

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The Witness is that one thing that immediately jumps to mind. No other game this year so thoroughly consumed my mind. When I wasn't playing the Witness, I was thinking about the Witness.

 

Overwatch just by sheer amount of hours played. I will likely play a lot more in 2017!

 

Hitman is the best dumbest game of the year. It's a hilarious and fun game!

 

BYE.

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