Dustin's Poorly Written Top 10 Games of 2016

Honorable Mentions

• Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice
• Firewatch
• ABZÛ
• Job Simulator
• SUPERHYPERCUBE
• Tomb of the Mask
• Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE

10 - WATCH_DOGS 2

WATCH_DOGS 2 is a strange thing. It’s characters are wide eyed hopeful young people who think they can change the world through hacktivism. But at the same time it hits some current events a little too on the nose. But even the hardships that these characters go through they always remain positive. Which is something we need to try to do in these times. The game is a standard open world with tons of side activities to do which all is mostly okay and fun to play. But for me this game sits on this list because of its strong characters and their relationship with each other.

9 - Ratchet & Clank (2016)

The last Ratchet game I spent a significant amount of time with was Deadlocked which was released in 2005 on the Playstation 2. Needless to say I’ve been out of the R&C loop for while but with this remake of the original game I had to jump back in. It should be noted that this game came out alongside an animated movie with the same name. Over the nine years since I last played one of these games they modernized the controls to fit with current shooter standards, and it feels real good. For it being a retelling of the original the writing is really sharp and funny. This game made me feel like it was 2002 all over again.

8 - Forza Horizon 3

Horizon 3 was a game that came out at the perfect time. It came out when my current day job was at its busiest and I just wanted to come home and play something that didn’t take a lot of brainpower, I could put on a podcast and just fall into a trance. The Horizon games have always been my favorite versus the Motorsport series because it’s about having fun with the cars. The Motorsport series is a little to “car porn” for me. I just want to get to the fun as fast as possible in these types of games and Forza Horizon 3 does all of that.

7 - The Witness

I’m bad at The Witness. I feel like I should say that at the top of this thing. But when I get a puzzle correct it’s a wonderful feeling. Being trapped on an island with a bunch of line puzzles is somehow relaxing. The thing I wanted to do most is to show people this game, I want people to experience this game for themselves. I really don’t know what to say about The Witness. It’s a game in its design I adore and should be praised for just kinda throwing you into it without telling you a thing. That’s the most insane thing about The Witness.

6 - Gears of War 4

My track record with Gears of War is all over the place. I think Gears One and Three are great, I didn’t really care for Two, and Judgment is a strange thing. But everything that was shown before release looked awesome, and it was. Gears 4 is a game about friendship and family. JD and Marcus Fenix feel like a father and son who have a mutual respect for one another, even if they don’t always agree with each other, and seem to have a really believable father son bond. And this is a game about big bro dudes with guns that have chainsaws on them. Also Act 2 might be the best dumb thing in a video game all year.

5 - Hitman (2016)

Hitman is a dumb, self aware video game. Hitman going episodic could have been a huge risk and luckily or IO Interactive it was pulled off. Hitman goes back to what the series was originally about, kill your target, and kill them in the most creative way possible. It’s a game that got me thinking about how to complete my objective and if something goes wrong to change up my plan on the fly, which in my experience usually happens, and it’s rare that any game makes me think on my feet.

4 - Titanfall 2

When I loaded up Titanfall 2’s single player I was half expecting a Call of Duty single player campaign, and what I got was something smarter. The single player takes great advantage of Titanfall’s signature wall running and Titan gameplay. Running from area to area, level to level is fast and fun. The multiplayer is a standard affair for the series but it replaces XP with a merit system, which honestly I'm not entirely sure how it works but that doesn’t really matter to me, it’s just a blast to play.

3 - Overwatch

Overwatch without a doubt is the best multiplayer game of the year. It’s map and character design is second to none. It exists in a colorful world filled with hope and positivity. Everything about this game oozes style. Overwatch isn’t afraid to give the player positive feedback by not paying too much attention to kill/death ratios and instead pays attention to the character you play and how they are played. I also maybe got a little too obsessed with the loot boxes and may have thrown a sizable amount of cash at them.

2 - Oxenfree

Oxenfree is a game about acceptance. Accepting friends, accepting family, accepting unforeseen circumstances. Oxenfree takes a group of teenagers who go out to party on a island that is known for tourism and some mysterious things that go on. Oxenfree gets a lot of dialogue right about how teens speak and speak to each other. This a game nails, more than any other other how teens interact with each other, whether they like one another or just hate them.

1 - DOOM (2016)

What else can be said about DOOM. Its incredible experience from top to bottom. It harkens back to old school shooters perfectly while feeling like a modern shooter. It’s fast, fun, and keeps you moving. I can’t remember the last time I thought about a first person shooter campaign so much. I can’t remember the last FPS campaign in where I started an other play through when I finished the first. This game deserves all the praise that I has got over the months.