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TheFakePsychic

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TFP's Top 16 games of 2016

So last year I figured I'd go for the cheap gag and since it was 2015 I was instead going to come up with 15 games because it was really easy to extend it out 5 more games, although it could easily have just been a top 10 list instead.

This long, arduous, crazy-in-the-bad way year, I thought I would have a hard time even coming up with a top 10 list. I played more games released this year that I was more actively disappointed by or disliked than I had in a long time. But as I was thinking about it and ordering my list, while I didn't have that many games I had a fierce amount of passion for like past years with things like Persona 4: Golden in 2012, D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die in 2014, or Yakuza 5 in 2015, there were a surprising amount of games that fit into the lower slots that I enjoyed enough that I wanted to give recognition, even if I think they don't inspire as much passion from me as other years' contenders. So since it's 2016, here's my top 16 games of the year, after another change from past years: Other awards for games that I liked but didn't make the cut! It's almost crazy! I know!

The "This world is super cool but I don't want to live there and I don't want to play the video game all that much really but man everything else about this video game is super cool" award: Let it Die.

Look. After being literally shoved out the door at Playstation Experience this year, Grasshopper Manufacture's first free-to-play game seemed like a surefire loss. But Let it Die is overflowing with Grasshopper's signature punk rock swagger absolutely gushing from every orifice of the game that it's hard not to get swept up in the game's screwball nature. Everything from character design to worldbuilding to the minor polishing touches to the game's incredible soundtrack is absolutely top notch. I just wish I enjoyed playing it more.

(Also Uncle Death was robbed the Best New Character award. Robbed I say! But also he's my personal pick for Best New Character, if that matters to anyone. He's a skateboarding grim reaper who likes video games and has a scythe that turns into a golf club. He's the best.)

The "This world is super cool, I wouldn't mind living there, but I also still don't want to play the video game all that much, but all the other stuff is also super cool" award: Overwatch.

People generally suck, and that's the main reason I just can't get into playing Overwatch all that much anymore, because it's one of those things where I stopped for a few months, everyone else didn't, and the part where I just want to zip around the map as Tracer doesn't really fly anymore without getting yelled at by the other 11 people in the game. But in terms of supplementary material, aesthetic, and interesting design aspects, Overwatch absolutely nails everything.

The "I enjoyed the bit where I played this video game, but man everything else about this is kind of not great" award: Stardew Valley.

I really enjoyed the two Harvest Moon games I played, so I thought I'd take to Stardew Valley in a more active way than I did. Maybe because I was trying to play it during my final semester of college, maybe it's because I kind of didn't really care about anyone or any aspect of the titular valley and just enjoyed the farming/mining/economic aspect, but I sort of bounced off Stardew Valley fairly quickly and have yet to return. It is something I do want to do at some point, but I just haven't done it yet.

The "Man this game just absolutely fun to watch in a way that other ones just don't have" award: Hitman.

I have never played a Hitman game. After watching countless clips, videos, and playthroughs, both here and elsewhere of IO's episodic Hitman game, this seems like something that I should fix. If a bald white guy dressed as a Sheikh shimmying across pipes and railings outside of a large Parisian chateau isn't art, then I don't know what is.

The "This is a list of games I didn't really play this year/only played in demos but if I did play them or the full versions I bet I would probably enjoy them" awards: Hitman, Doom, Darkest Dungeon, RIGS: Mechanized Combat League, Tyranny, I Expect You To Die, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Motorsport Manager, Planet Coaster, The Witness, and Monster Hunter Generations

You can't play 'em all. Whether by time or finance, these are games that may or may not have made an impact on the forthcoming list, but ones that I'll definitely be looking forward to playing in years to come.

Anyway, with those preliminary awards being handed out, let's get on with the big list! That's probably what you came here for.

List items

  • Number 16

    British Isles outfit Variable State's silent debut mystery is a game of seeming dichotomies coming together to form a cohesive whole. Starkly beautiful, calmly thrilling, and obtusely clear, you may not enjoy the short few hours Virginia spends weaving its tale, but I certainly did. Sure, its ending doesn't necessarily do it any favors, but everything leading up to that denouement is tense, perfectly paced, and generally outstanding. That it manages to convey so much without a single uttered word? Even more impressive.

    Also as someone who lived/lives near this area, I think this game nails the aesthetic and feeling of lower Appalachia in a way no other video game set in the area does. Which is impressive, for a team from the other side of the world.

  • Number 15

    I really hope that as long as ACE Team wants to make video games, people keep providing them with the money and time in order to do so, and The Deadly Tower of Monsters is another game that reaffirms that belief. Their slightly askew sensibilities in terms of style and humor elevate what would otherwise be a rote twin-stick shooter into an enjoyable romp through a b-movie that makes some Mystery Science Theater 3000 films looks like high art. The running commentary track from the film's dirtbag director, Bastion-like in nature, also adds to the game in such a fantastic way.

  • Number 14

    There's a certain old school rigor to Star Fox Zero that manages to strike a really appealing balance between the unforgiving nature of the older age of video games while still maintaining the advances in game design since the early mid-90s to create an enjoyable classic romp through the Star Fox universe. While it's neither the biggest nor best Platinum game, the smaller aspects, particularly the feeling of dynamism in the dogfights against Star Wolf really shine.

  • Number 13

    In terms of the age-old fighting game question, I've always preferred SNK to Capcom fighters. Their impeccable character designs, lean set of mechanics, and incredible spritework set them a cut above other fighting games of the era, and two out of the three advancing into SNK's return from pachinko development isn't bad. Sure, KOF XIV is not what anyone would consider a looker, but the important mechanical bits jumped to 3D in a far better way than I was expecting.

  • Number 12

    Read my full review here: http://www.giantbomb.com/watch-dogs-2/3030-54066/user-reviews/2200-29731/

    While I still think I wholeheartedly prefer the first game (I know, I know), Watch_Dogs 2 isn't necessarily any slouch either. Given the visceral reaction to Watch_Dogs, Watch_Dogs 2 manages to straddle this very fine line between wholesale rebooting and trying to keep the scant few who enjoyed the first game happy, and while it doesn't cleanly make it across that tightrope wire, it doesn't necessarily fail either. It's a weird situation, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is the last we see of ctOS for a while. But if this is the note the series goes out on, it could certainly be a lot worse.

  • Number 11

    Firefly hasn't gotten a video game yet, but that's probably okay, because Rebel Galaxy is basically the Firefly game you want. Blending sci-fi and western theming conventions with some incredibly fun space combat and good ol' space truckin' and smugglin', Rebel Galaxy brings a lot of things I like to the table and combines them in a fantastic manner. Combine that with the raucously acoustic, mostly Blues Saraceno default soundtrack, there's very little not to enjoy about the game.

  • Number 10

    You'd think with the amount I enjoy crime-focused video games, I would've played more of the Mafia series than I have. Mafia II is a perennial game on the list of ones I play about every 6 months and go "Oh right, this is pretty cool." followed by other things happening and then not playing it for another 6 months. I'll probably finish it at some point. Mafia III, on the other hand, managed to grip me in such a bigger way with its more pulpy story, late 60's setting, and absolutely incredible soundtrack. The true crime documentary based around Lincoln Clay's rampage through the underworld of New Bordeaux as a framing device allowed Hangar 13 to make some absolutely incredible storytelling choices in terms of things such as the introduction's non-linear setup, as well as the past-in-review tale of Donovan's senate hearing that really put the icing on the cake.

  • Number 9

    I had never played Rez before. It's one of those things that always seemed super cool but managed to skirt platforms that I owned in such a way that I was never able to play it. Come the release of Rez Infinite and PSVR, and I was finally able to check out what Rez is. Turns out: Rez is pretty cool. As the first VR experience that I played at home and not at a conference, the experience of whizzing through the supercomputer that makes up the setting of Rez is a beautiful, exciting experience. Controlling everything with the VR headset and a single button is a perfectly natural, fluid experience, and the addition of Area X evolves the mechanics of the base game in such a fantastic way that seems absolutely perfect for being the showcase/all-star for these early days of consumer VR.

  • Number 8

    The Pokémon series is one that's very near and dear to my heart. Ever since I could read, playing Pokémon, watching Pokémon, reading Pokémon comics and manga, and playing the Pokémon card game were all some of my favorite things to do as a kid. Turns out, not a lot has changed in 20 years. Pokémon Sun and Moon are a beautiful love letter to this venerable franchise. Making some incredibly intelligent shake-ups to the age old Pokémon formula that result in a much better playing game with a monumental improvement to certain quality of life aspects that have plagued the series.

    (#TeamRowlet)

  • Number 7

    In terms of doing interesting things within the driving game genre, none do more at one time than the Horizon spinoff of Forza Motorsport. Blending a music and car festival allows Playground games to pick some great music and cars to throw at exotic locales, and the variety of sound, vehicles, and locales have never been better than in this entry into the series. Forza Horizon 3 brings top-notch handling, interesting racetrack design, and even more imaginative challenge and spotlight races into one gorgeous, compelling package.

    Driving cars down the Great Ocean Road, up and down dunes adjacent to the beautiful coast of Australia, and even through dense city streets or the vast outback was some of both the most exciting and relaxing time I spent in video games this year. And as each Horizon game builds and improves with each successive entry, I can't wait to see where Playground goes next.

  • Number 6

    I almost want to just jokily put "SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT." as my reasoning here, but doing so almost seems like a disservice to every other aspect of Superhot that excels far beyond expectation. The way the story unfolds and unravels through each successive murder-puzzle, the introduction of new mechanics and crazier levels that are just incredibly satisfying to inch through, followed by the incredibly cool "This is all that cool shit you just did but in real time, look at how cool you are." bit at the end.

    Superhot's strength is its style, but it manages to permeate that style through every aspect of its design that just saying that is equally a disservice. Everything about the game is so carefully designed, written, and managed, that it seems like it could topple at any time under the weight of it all, and yet it never does, continuing to stay one step a head, and always super.

    Hot.

    SUPER.

    HOT.

  • Number 5

    First-person shooters aren't really my forte. I don't really play them all that often, and certainly not multiplayer if I can ever help it. However, Titanfall 2 both manages to combine an outstanding single player campaign with exhilarating multiplayer that it's hard not to have an absolute blast from moment one.

    From the sense of speed to the handling of the guns, everything about Titanfall 2 seems designed for the player to have as much fun as humanly possible. All your movement abilities combine and flow in such a way that it's so easy to just think "I want to go there" and do it. Level designs are clear and concise in such a way that it almost becomes second nature to just chain wallruns, slides, and double jumps around in a downright unprecedented way.

    To make a slightly weird comparison here: the best driving games make handling cars feel like second nature. To get around a turn, the controls are responsive enough to less know exactly how to make the turn, but more feel how to make the turn simply by looking at it. In Titanfall 2, I can look at an area I want to go, and feel exactly how to get there. It's a sense of freedom that's truly unprecedented in the shooters I have played, and it just works near perfectly.

  • Number 4

    Read my full review here: http://www.giantbomb.com/tokyo-mirage-sessions-fe/3030-41346/user-reviews/2200-29500/

    Last year, in my write-up for why I enjoyed The Phantom Pain so much, I talked about wanting more games that were effective at conveying sadness. And I still agree with what I said back then.

    But man, I'm not sure how long it's been since I played a game as goofily enjoyable as this one. Completely and totally over-the-top in every way imaginable, but cohesive and challenging in ways you expect from an Atlus RPG, the completely straight-faced absurdism worked so well in this game's favor that it's almost surprising.

    Even me, noted hater of pop-idol music, to this day occasionally gets "The Labyrinth" stuck in my head. They managed to make a cast of pop-stars and young actors that I didn't absolutely despise, which is a lot more than I can say for other games that try to rely on those tropes for characterizaiton. Combine that with one of the strongest localization jobs this year, and you end up with a real winner.

  • Number 3

    I know, I know. Looking at that title, I'm not sure you could come up with a more stereotypical game designed to push all the buttons in my brain that go "This is a thing that you like." So big surprise: this game about solving mysteries in computers is a thing that I really enjoyed.

    It would be easy to just put down "I liked the part where you solve the mystery in the computer world," but there's so much more going on in this game. It manages to take the themes of cosmic digital horror from Digimon Tamers (Another one of my favorite Digimon arcs), mix them with some of the more modern aspects of Japanese mystery game development from series such as Persona or Danganronpa, while sprinkling in an endearing set of characters and fun RPG mechanics, and the end result is, obviously, one of my favorite RPGs of the year.

  • Number 2

    If you had told me at the beginning of the year a Final Fantasy game, let alone Final Fantasy XV would damn near top my GOTY list, I would've laughed in your face.

    From its time as a spinoff of the joyless mire that was Final Fantasy XIII, to the 10 years it spent in development, to eventually becoming the next mainline entry in the long running Final Fantasy series that I hold very little affection for anyway, to switching directors near the end of development, to a bunch of uninteresting trailers featuring Eminem for some reason, to the constant delays even after being reannounced, for all intents and purposes, Final Fantasy XV should be something I don't find as compelling as I do.

    And yet here we are.

    And I think the main reason might be derived from the fact that despite having so many small trappings of Final Fantasy, from Phoenix Downs to Megalixirs, Final Fantasy XV really doesn't feel like a "Final Fantasy" game. Call it a bias, but when I tend to think about Final Fantasies 1-14 (excluding 5, the only other game in the series I have any real fondness for), the things that jump to mind are uninteresting melodrama between flat characters, in a world with occasional flashes of brilliance, but mired down by the people who inhabit it and their actions.

    Sure, the melodrama's there, but it takes a backseat to these characters who, despite appearances, are all incredibly compelling as the biggest group of almost lackadaisical goofballs. There's a degree of mirth in the interactions between the prince and his retinue that's been missing from the Final Fantasy series. Their interactions are some of the most human-like, natural ones in ages, and certainly the best ones in Final Fantasy history.

    While the uninteresting melodrama still exists in the overarching plot, it's easy to look past in favor of how easy it is to ignore it and do a quite ridiculous amount of side content that is both fun and compelling, due to the fantastic design of the open world. Its blend of a slightly tilted Americana and weird fantasy trappings, much like a lot of other things mentioned, works shockingly well in ways that seem like it shouldn't.

    That refrain of "Why is this working? It shouldn't be, and yet here we are." permeates throughout all of Final Fantasy XV. Even its poor stealth and occasional poor encounter design can't outweigh the strength of the world and characters within. Sure, one could probably call the amount of praise I have for this game a matter of expectations. As a noted Final Fantasy disliker swayed by the sheer amount of positive word of mouth, Final Fantasy XV had a very low bar to clear. But it cleared it so high by moment one that I can't help but fell the need to both applaud and reward that sheer giant leap.

  • Number 1

    If there's one word to describe Remedy's output, pardon the unintentional joke, I would use the word "timeless." Both the Max Payne and Alan Wake series have aged like the finest wine, and all four games are just as fun to play today as they were when they were first released. Quantum Break is a game I can see joining that illustrious lineage.

    There's something about how Remedy handles every aspect of a third person shooter, from the impact of weapons, to the unique twists on the genre they add, to the amazing setpieces that reach a fever pitch in Quantum Break that resulted in the most fun I've had with the cinematic third person shooter genre since Uncharted 2.

    In this case, the gameplay revolves around protagonist Jack Joyce's time powers. From Time Blast to Time Rush and everything in between, the encounters and levels are perfectly set up to be a playground for your newfound time powers. There's a real satisfaction in zipping around one of the game's many combat arenas, popping up to lock some Monarch goon in a stasis bubble with your Time Stop, then unloading as hard as you can and watching them fly back like they were in an old western.

    Even with Remedy's sure hand guiding the mechanical aspects, I don't think it would be nearly as compelling without leveraging Remedy's other strongsuit: creating worlds. The quick-research-is-inconclusive-but-I-assume-fictional city of Riverport, Massachussets hustles and bustles through the amount of emails, posters, and in-world design that really comes alive. Every incidental character has a compelling arc throughout the game, told through the various emails and recordings found throughout the world, and I was never left wanting for the details I was interested in learning.

    Completionism isn't necessarily a thing I thing I strive for in video games, but the supplemental logs and videos were so compelling that I couldn't help but completely 100% this game. It's very rare that something pulls me into wanting to see absolutely everything, and Remedy is one of the few developers who can do it consistently.

    Now sure. Arguments can be made about the failed TV/Game experiment. But I think Quantum Break manages to come the closest to succeeding given the troubled development of the TV portions, and the end result was an interesting, drop-dead gorgeous sci-fi action-adventure, and that's why Quantum Break is my game of the year.

    Thanks for reading!
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