2016 was a great year for video games. It may not go down in the history books as the most memorable year in the industry, but it was a solid year for bitg AAA and indie games alike. As always, my tastes often align with games with amazing a story and characters. For the sake of transparency, I feel the obligation to point out that, to me, gameplay always takes a back seat to narrative, before diving headfirst into last year’s lineup. Without further ado, below is a subjective list of my personal top ten picks of video games in 2016:
XCOM 2
10. XCOM 2
XCOM 2 is a pretty standard sequel. With 2K Games publishing, and Firaxis developing, they didn’t feel obligated to reinvent the wheel that drove the first game and I think that works in its favor. However, there are some major refinements to what is already there, and with the addition of destructible environments, the game feels new enough to not feel like a retread of the original. XCOM is easily one of the hardest games I have ever played, which forced me to lower the difficulty to easy, for the first time in my gaming career. XCOM 2 is no different.
Now I excuse myself from this gamer sin by reminding you all that I am usually not a fan of the strategy RPG genre…but this series is so good. Build up your base, manage resources, send soldiers to their permanent deaths on away missions, upgrade gear and weaponry using stolen Intel, this game is stuffed to the brim with activities that will ensure that each play through feels different than the last.
Firewatch
9. Firewatch
Walking simulators and linear narrative experiences have become all the rage in the industry over the last few years. Games like Firewatch are top echelon examples of this genre. Campo Santo developed and produced a scenery is always captivating. However, the final smidgen of immersion is thanks to this game’s amazing musical score. The big achievement, are the characters in this game. Delilah and Henry are so lifelike that they are unforgettable.
I still think about the brilliant performances of Cissy Jones (Delilah) and Rich Sommer (Henry) that even a year later I catch myself thinking of their interactions. The sense of mystery permeates through the entire run-time, and while the big reveal did come off as critically polarizing, I felt it was the perfect way to resolve the narrative.
Mafia 3
8. Mafia 3
The gameplay loop of Mafia 3 is very apparent early on in the experience. This turned many off, but those who stuck with it experienced next level story telling that transcends average game narratives. I thought the mechanics of the game were good enough to warrant its repetitive nature, but there is certainly a case to be made against that I am sure. By the time the credits rolled, I was completely fulfilled by the characters and narrative.
The story is so paramount in the personal success of this game for me, that i found it incredible easy to overlook its shortcomings. Also, if era based license music is your bag, this game does to the 60’s what GTA: Vice City did to capturing the music of the 80’s. Developers Hanger 13 did a fantastic job of capturing what it feels like to be in late 60’s New Orleans. Check out my review here.
Fire Emblem Fates
7. Fire Emblem: Fates
Handheld games are woefully underappreciated these days. Fire Emblem: Fates is a shining example of the quality Nintendo still puts out on its mobile systems. Intelligent Systems and Nintendo SPD really stepped it up from the last entry, Fire Emblem Awakening. The game has you managing relationships with characters, dealing with perma-death of said characters, and trying to pair them up properly to create the best children to help you in your quest.
You have 3 completely different stories to choose from, and each story represents your character on different sides of the same war. The run time is packed with cheeky humor, a very interesting tale about war, and some feel good character moments. Also the tactical RPG mechanics are above and beyond the others in the genre. If you own a 3DS, you should be playing this game. There should be a law.
Forza Horizon 3
6. Forza Horizon 3
Nobody warned me that I was going to be getting the best racing game of all time this year. Racing games always act as the perfect pallet cleansers for the bigger Triple A games that flood the market, so I try and pick up one racing game annually. I am a big Forza fan, and usually enjoy the simulation entries in the series more. Well there is a new love in town, and it is Forza Horizon 3. Playground Games has made trekking across the Australian landscape as beautiful as it is exhilarating.
The sacrifice of true simulation controls are for the better as these tracks often lead you through dense forests, and varied environments are more fun to traverse with the more forgiving controls. The cars still feel amazing to drive, each with their own varied feel. The amount of vehicles and customization to choose from are staggering and the freedoms each race offers ensure you will have a tailored event to every race you want to participate in. This is a masterclass racer that deserves all the praise it is getting.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
5. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided reels in the big story moments to create a much more subtle and low key narrative. While the first game focused itself on more wide reaching conspiracies that could affect the world, this game was more about trying to investigate a singular terrorist attack. Now as the mystery unfolds you will see the larger conspiracies begin to showcase themselves but the story never feels as large scale as Human Revolution. This is by no means a bad thing. Edios Montreal made sure the world felt more fleshed out and detailed as you explored the HUB areas, picking up missions, items, and intel.
The story itself serves as a stepping stone to set up a much larger narrative that is sure to come in either DLC or the next main entry to the series. The characters, specifically the antagonists, can be archetypal at times but they never fall short of interesting. Adam Jensen never felt better to control, and this will be one of the few games from this year that I will go back and replay as I missed many of the completely missable side missions.
Inside
4. Inside
By the time Inside wraps up you will be left with so many questions that you will have to do a little research on yourself to fully understand. While some hate the post credits homework assignment, I loved it. Working towards understanding a complex and cerebral story in a visual medium is why video game narratives work so well. Collectively, fans worked together to pull in the major themes and ideas to cultivate quite the amazing answer to what it is you are exactly experiencing at the end of the game.
Inside’s aesthetics are simple but somehow always manage to be impressive. Developer Playdead uses light puzzle mechanics that are a welcomed feature and are challenging enough to make you feel smart when you complete them, but not overly hard and time consuming to the point of frustration. Come for the gameplay, stay for the graphics, leave with a wonderfully complex narrative. It is easily the most atmospheric game of the year. Check out my review here.
Quantum Break
3. Quantum Break
Boy howdy what a polarizing game. This is a hard experience to gauge as it seems like a 50/50 split on people who enjoyed it and people who just did not like it. Remedy Entertainment, the developers, had the idea of having a game that is part playable video game, and part TV show, was bold and innovative, and for me it totally paid off. The TV section could have come off corny and boring, but they were everything but. The actors nailed their perceptive roles and the production value was high. I eagerly awaited the next episode at the end of every playable act.
The gameplay itself is some of Remedy’s finest. The shooting controls are tight, and they work brilliantly with the time manipulation mechanics. I feel powerful in this game, while never sacrificing the challenge. I think this is one of the most well performed games on the block, and the story is an incredible time traveling tale, that rivals even some of the best movies of the same subject.
Final Fantasy XV
2. Final Fantasy XV
This game had every right to be bad, but ten years in the making, it comes out the other side a not only playable but fantastic Final Fantasy game. The game is equal parts something old and something new. It always feels like Final Fantasy but the new combat mechanics are such a welcomed addition. After all, a complete overhaul of mechanics is the modus operandi of Final Fantasy, always exchanging a materia system, for a gambit system, never using the same mechanics more than once.
While the story is not present enough, and character motivations are hardly, if ever clear, I never felt robbed of the story or experience. Enough was there to deliver the big and small moments, and it created an interesting journey that has a very rewarding destination. This was the first Final Fantasy, I ever beat only to immediately start a new game over again. The adventure was addicting enough to make up for its noticeable shortcomings. Hajime Tabata and his team at Square Enix Business Division 2, finally brought us the Final Fantasy game we’ve been waiting for.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
1. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Never in my life have I seen revisionist history work so quickly. This game came out to dropped jaws, near perfect scores, and collective praise across gamers and critics alike. Fast forward a few short months, and people deem this game a disappointment, forgettable, and long in the tooth. Well, you’re all wrong, I am sorry to say.
The game IS objectively a technical masterpiece. Uncharted 4 DOES have some of the best performances and voice acting in the whole industry. You WILL experience one of the best original scores of the year. Uncharted 4 delivers stand out moments in both action and character in a way that Michael Bay wishes he could recapture. These are all undebatable things in my eyes, and not only does it deserve to be my personal number one, but it deserves the right to be called Game of the Year 2016. No other game comes close to deserving such praise. Niel Druckmann,and his team at Naughty Dog has created a near perfect experience, and it deserves your attention if you are a PlayStation 4 owner.
So there ya have it, a full year in review of the totally subjective best games of 2016. There are so many Indie games I wish i could further represent here. Games like Oxenfree, Virginia, Abzu, Stories: The Path of Destiny, Salt and Sanctuary, and I am Setsuna, are beautiful, narrative driven experiences that deserve a place on this list, and surely your absolute attention.
Plenty of big Triple A games did not make it either, but are worth the call out. Games like Doom, Titanfall 2, and Dark Souls 3 are also unmissable entries in their franchises. We were far from lacking as gamer’s this year. How did this year fair for you? Anything you felt I missed or overlooked? If there is one thing you could take away from this year, what would you say it is? For me I noticed a very obvious turn in the use of original scores in games. This has easily been one of the best years for the industry in terms of music. Share your list down below in the comments! Let’s chat about last year!
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Smaller experiences, or “indies” as they are called, are the heart of the video game industry right now. Over the years we have been blessed by the gamer gods with experiences such as Journey, Brother: A Tale of Two Sons, Gone Home, Ori and the Blind Forest, and more recently Firewatch. Now we are bestowed Inside upon us. Inside is an Xbox One console exclusive (also available on Steam), and if you own an Xbox One, you are required to play it…it’s just that simple.
From Playdead’s Limbo
Inside comes from the studio, Playdead, who brought us all Limbo back in 2010. Limbo was known for its ambient storytelling, interesting art style, and clever puzzles. Inside is the obvious step forward for this studio as they take everything they learned from creating Limbo, and implement those lessons and new ideas into what is easily one of the greatest gaming experiences I have played this year…nay…this generation.
Inside starts off very much like Limbo. You are a young boy, in a dark forest, running to the right of the screen as you complete simple but smart environmental puzzles. The ambient story telling that was in Limbo returns here and it works even better this time around. Right off the back I get the conflict, and I understand the story. My goal is to survive in this dystopian world by any means necessary. Strange men in masks chase the young boy, sending dogs after him, and hunt him down using vehicles and flashlights as a sense of tension is created that not only has me caring about my survival, but has me clutching my controller as I make close calls, and quick escapes. “Go, go, go go, go!” seems to be my inner mantra as I run daringly across the levels and make leaps of faith into the unknown, in hopes for a brief respite. The sense of atmosphere is so cleverly pieced together, as the hauntingly beautiful aesthetic works for the bleak story they are trying to convey. Part of that tension building is accompanied by the outstanding soundtrack that again is more ambient than it is present. The game is all about having the story pieces on display, but making you put them together by being observant. The environment tells a better story than most games with spoken word, which this game lacks completely. The implementation of color is also noteworthy. What starts of as muted blacks and whites we are then slowly introduced to more colors as the pallet expands itself out but never to the point of being colorful. The game retains its tones through its implementation of these muted colors and this works majorly to its themes, and tone.
The game controls are simple and smooth. Directional joysticks control you character, and one of the face buttons act as your jump while another acts as your “interaction” or “grab.” At no point did I ever find myself fighting against the control layout or the mechanics themselves. The puzzles are frequent but never overbearing. I am not a puzzle fan at all, and not once did I ever find myself checking my watch for how much time I spent on a section or even worse, getting bored. I found myself using the word, “smart,” over and over again. Smart is the way I felt when I completed a puzzle, and it was what I kept saying out loud when seeing the mechanics and layout of said puzzles. The design of this game is just brilliant, in every sense of the word. The Inside experience had a stranglehold on me, and has me rethinking how I feel about the puzzle/platforming genre in general.
It took me about two hours to complete Inside, and the average seems to be in that range, or around 3 hours for those who take in the sights a bit more or get caught longer on a few of the less hand holding puzzles. It is an experience I highly suggest you play in one sitting, so you get the full immersion of what the story has to offer.
While this game is very much about the journey, it is equal parts about the destination. Thankfully, Inside’s ending delivers in every way. No worries, I refuse to spoil it here because it needs to be experienced, heck I doubt I would do it any justice. What I will say, is that the ending is thought provoking, head scratching, WTF inducing, and very much so open to interpretation. I suspect people will be talking about the end of Inside much like gamers talked about the ending of Journey for years after its release. Even right now, there are thousands of discussions happening between players of Inside who are bouncing theories, ideas, and their own interpretations off one another. If a game can spark so much conversation, then to me that makes it more than the sum of its parts. All the praise and accolades this game has gotten from players and critics alike are warranted. If you own an Xbox One, or are part of that ever so loving PC Master Race, you need to do yourself a favor and drop everything you are doing and purchase Inside. You want to be part of this conversation because this will be a game that inspires many, inside and outside of the industry.
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