GOTY 2016

The Year I Started A Whole Bunch More Games Than I Actually Finished™

But seriously, 2016 was a pretty fantastic year for games, both in the AAA and indie spaces. Due to events in my life, there were tons of games that I wanted to spend more time with this year (or even get a chance to check out at all!) that I never got the chance to get their hooks in me before the year ended. Some of these include some lesser-known games (like VA-11 Hall-A, Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, Obduction, and Quadrilateral Cowboy), as well as some of the bigger titles to come out this year (Doom, Titanfall 2, and Dishonored 2, to name a few). I'll be keeping a lot of these games at the forefront of my backlog, hoping to get to them in early 2017.

I don't generally do a little preamble like this, but there was so much I missed this year I wanted to be sure the games that might have been on this list got their due as well. Anyway, on to my list of games that shaped my relaxing time in 2016! It was tough to narrow it down to just these 10.

List items

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  1. The Witness

  In a year that saw the release of Obduction, a spiritual successor to Myst, it feels somewhat wrong to compare The Witness to the same storied puzzle game franchise. However that Puzzle-Game-On-An-Island quality is exactly what drew me to this game in the first place. I've been a huge fan of problem solving games since I first played Myst as a kid, but I don't think I've ever had a game's puzzles invade my life in quite the same way that The Witness did. Building off a simple line drawing mechanic, the challenges of the island sneak up on you. Before you know it, you've finished half of the game and are stringing together more rules and complications in your head than you can possibly imagine, all while still drawing a line from one point to another. It's a brilliant set of mechanics that is stark in its simplicity yet jaw-dropping in its intricacy.

  The game's creator, Jonathan Blow, has talked at length about the feeling of epiphany. That moment where you find the truth within you through a combination of learning and self-discovery. He's discussed how most puzzle games don't trade in that feeling. They're content to let you combine objects and hit your head against a wall long enough that you stumble upon the answer by accident. What I love about The Witness is that it perfectly embodies these talks from Blow. The game is a machine made to produce the feeling of discovery and epiphany by teaching you simple rules and then building upon those rules. The puzzles in The Witness began to seep into my day-to-day life, where I would see the lines and solutions in the world around me. It's the closest I've come to experiencing actual Inception, and I'm still not sure if that should frighten or amaze me.

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  2. Firewatch

  Firewatch gripped me in a way that very few games do. Exploring both the Shoshone wilderness and the inner workings (metaphorically) of the two protagonists, Henry and Delilah, conjured the feeling of reading a classic page-turner mystery, where you can't put the book down until you see it through to the end. And what an ending it was. Many have issues with the conclusion to Firewatch's ~5 hours, but those are issues I do not share. The game was true to itself and its leads, which is something we rarely see in gaming narratives.

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  3. Overwatch

  I'm still kinda flabbergasted that Overwatch is on this list, let alone that it ranks so high. I'm not one for competitive and multiplayer games in general, and it goes double if those games happen to be shooters. However Overwatch upset all of those self perceptions this year with its unique blend of fantastic art design, mechanical variety, and player friendliness. The worst thing a multiplayer game can do is make the player feel like they're not useful to their team, and Blizzard was smart to go out of their way to make it feel like I was contributing in every match I played. Through Overwatch, I found some genuine friendships over the course of 2016's summer months. It lead to me getting back into playing Destiny, this time with a group of friends instead of just going it solo. It broke me out of my single-player shell in a way no other game could hope to, and I'm still left wondering at just how it pulled that off. Kudos, Overwatch. Kudos.

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  4. Zero Time Dilemma

  Zero Time Dilemma is the third and final game in a trilogy that addresses quantum mechanics and philosophical conundrums through the lens of a narrative structure similar to what you see in the Saw movies. You work your way through a branching narrative, learning about the characters around you and solving escape room puzzles in an attempt to stay alive. What's more interesting to me are the twists and turns the narrative takes and the concepts and thought experiments the games muse on. While ZTD isn't quite a solid or interesting as 999 or Virtue's Last Reward (the previous games in the Zero Escape series), it still was a fantastic ride, full of unexpected twists and new things to learn about. Ever heard of the concept of Quantum Suicide? How about The Experience Machine problem? These are the sorts of things the games narrative addresses. Add to that one of the most interesting discussions about Back to the Future I've ever seen and some great thoughts on why social media is awful, and you have a pretty great game.

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  5. Inside

  Inside coming in as low as #5 on this list is a testament to how strong 2016 was for games. Inside is as close to a flawlessly-executed game I've ever seen. From the puzzle platforming design to the art style and the abstract story, it feels like a game that was conjured all at once rather than built piece by piece. I won't talk at length about this one, because I'm sure some have still not played it and I think it's an experience that should be kept as pure as possible. Play Inside. You won't regret it.

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  6. Final Fantasy XV

  Final Fantasy XV is the most fascinating game to come out this year, from a game design and industry standpoint. After ten (ten!!) years of development, I was worried that the end result would be an awful, broken game full of mismatched ideas. While the ideas and pieces of FFXV are most certainly mismatched, it is the furthest thing from broken I can imagine. I wouldn't call it a perfect game. I wouldn't call it a balanced one either. But it's incredible the way the various pieces work together to make a wholly unique experience. This is a Japanese RPG with fun, strategic real-time combat that also has mechanics drawn from open-world games and monster hunting games. That seems pretty standard, however the way those pieces fit together it wholly unexpected. On top of that the game boasts an entire subsection that is basically the Final Fantasy version of a survival horror game, along with a post-game dungeon entirely consisting of the most deviously-ingenious platforming puzzles I've played in a long time. It's baffling in the best way - a delightfully unexpected experience.

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  7. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

  I love the Uncharted series, and Uncharted 4 was the final entry that I didn't know I needed. It had all of the same fun platforming puzzles and third-person shooting I wanted from the game while presenting a story that focused on the characters over the narrative. That's something I always appreciate. On top of that, this was probably the most technically accomplished and beautiful game I played this year. I'm still kinda awestruck at what Naughty Dog can pull off on the PS4.

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  8. Hitman

  I'm not a fan of the Hitman franchise, but IO Interactive's latest, episodic take on the murder sandbox really hit me in all the right ways this year. The maps were a brilliant playground for both stealth and wacky hijinks, and I had just as much fun watching other people play as I did playing the game myself. Here's to hoping they produce a second and third season, because I want more!

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  9. Superhot

  The core of SUPERHOT is brilliant. Time only moves when you move. People are attacking you, so figure out how to puzzle through avoiding them while taking them out. Then, once you've completed a level, watch it played back in real time just to see how much of a badass you are when time moves normally. It's the natural next step to come after bullet time, and can make anyone feel like the coolest action hero on the planet. I'm looking forward to trying out the VR version once I get a rig of my own.

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  10. Batman: The Telltale Series

  Batman is near and dear to my heart. I've seen many interpretations of the character over the years, especially those that start from the "beginning" of his career and focus on a piece of the character and how that influenced his transformation from Bruce Wayne into the Bat. Some do a great job, others choose to focus on parts of the character that I don't find quite as appealing (*cough* Frank Miller *cough*). Telltale's Batman is the best representation of the character I've seen in a medium outside of comics since The Animated Series. The Batman that I love seeing is one who sees his enemies not just as villains, but flawed people who need help. Arkham Asylum isn't a scary place with unhinged criminals who only further stigmatize mental illness. It's a place of attempted healing. Bruce/Batman understands these things. He understands that these people aren't beyond saving. He wants to help. That's the Bruce in this game.

  And of course there are a whole slew of other problematic things about having most of your rogue's gallery be mental patients. That's always something that has frayed at the edges of the character for me, and it's something that the Telltale game addresses within the narrative. I won't spoil anything but I think it's framed very well. Add to that the most fascinating narrative hook involving the death of the Waynes that I've seen maybe ever, and you have a great story that focuses on the Batman that we should all want to be.

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  11. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

  Yes, there's an 11th game on this list. I wanted to take a moment at the end to recognize, yet again, The Witcher 3. I finally finished my time with the game this fall, completing the amazing "Blood and Wine" expansion that came out this year. I've spent more time playing as Geralt than I care to share, but I don't regret a moment of it. Everything that put this game at my #1 spot on last year's list still stands, and the coda to the experience was perfection. So long, Witcher. Until we meet again.