The best of 2016!
by redfive
Happy new year! I tried to keep this short and sweet, I really did. 2016 was an awful year in many ways, for me personally and for the world at large. That said -- not everything about 2016 was a pile of hot garbage. Video games, in particular, had a banner year. I salute all of these games for keeping my spirits up in a very challenging time for us all! Best of 2016 (Not released in 2016) I pu...
Happy new year!
I tried to keep this short and sweet, I really did. 2016 was an awful year in many ways, for me personally and for the world at large. That said -- not everything about 2016 was a pile of hot garbage. Video games, in particular, had a banner year. I salute all of these games for keeping my spirits up in a very challenging time for us all!
Best of 2016 (Not released in 2016)
I put significant time into a few games not released in 2016 during the year. The Talos Principle and Bloodborne were both deep experiences from slightly older titles that kept me engaged early in the season.
 | I put 30 hours into this game in January 2016. It's almost certainly my favorite "environmental puzzle" game ever. |
 | I finally got into this game, and this style of game, in 2016. It's the best Dark Souls game! I sure hope Bloodborne 2 gets made, and gets released on PC. |
 | 2016's "2015 Game of the Year" |
 | I ended up playing quite a lot of DK3 in MAME this year. Why? Because 2016! |
Best of 2016 (Honorable Mentions)
Before I get to my more traditional "top 10" list, I wanted to call out a bunch of games that I feel deserve recognition this year. I tried to keep this shorter, but there was Too Much Good Stuff, just like AM/PM. The list below is not in any particular order.
 | I definitely didn't play enough of Stardew Valley in 2016. It's charming, and clearly relaxing, but I rarely feel like I have enough time to give it the proper long stretch it really deserves. |
 | Satan's in that computer. |
 | If my original PlayStation had a mouse and keyboard connected, this game might have dropped right out of 1996. I mean that in the best way possible. |
 | There are many, many things I don't like about Let It Die. The load times are terrible, it's a PS4 exclusive, the free-to-play aspects can sometimes get in the way of fun, the menus and inventory are a chore... All that said -- I keep coming back to this game for the weirdly original tone, the excellent characters (Uncle Death!), and the feeling of progression as your disposable cast of fighters make their way up the tower. |
 | One of the best uses of a touch screen in a game in 2016. You can even play this on a Vita, if you're crazy? |
 | Stress. This game is stressful. This game has "stress" as a literal concept for the characters that live inside of it. Something about overcoming the virtual stress in this dark, depressing world helped me to put aside my own stress and anxiety while playing, in service of helping those poor souls make their way further into the (darkest) dungeon. |
 | I've never played all the way through a Dragon Quest or Dragon Warrior game, so my level of nostalgia for the series is limited at best. However, the experience of playing a more directed and more adorable Minecraft-style game was very appealing! I wish this was cross-save on Vita, or available on the PC. |
 | Dark Souls III is not the best "Dark Souls" game I played in 2016 -- that was definitely Bloodborne, since I was late to the party. Dark Souls III is almost certainly the most complete, and most polished of the games in this series, and the PC port is very shiny. I hope to play enough of this to feel satisfied in 2017, though I doubt I'll ever "finish" it. |
 | I didn't finish the whole game again in 2016 -- it's a long game! -- but the gorgeous remastered visuals, combined with the cross-save support on PS4 + Vita really got me back into this game. It's one my favorites from the PS2 era, and it totally holds up in 2016. |
 | I re-discovered this game on PC in 2016. It's so much more relaxing and fun to keep playing in a longer session with no ads or micro-transactions! |
 | I think I hacked something with a pseudo-DOS prompt on a "portable" computer. 10/10, would hack again. |
 | Absolutely beautiful pixel art up in here! I like the gimmick of flying around instead of jumping, too. If I had played more of this in 2016, I think it might be on my top 10 instead of over here in the honorable mentions. With so much going on in games and in life this year, I just haven't put the time into it that I would like. |
 | This shouldn't work. Nothing about this should work. Solitaire + horse racing + light JRPG = a joke, right? I thought so, too, until I ended up racing around in Pocket Card Jockey each night before I fell asleep for about a month straight. If this game was available on mobile phone platforms, I think I'd still be hooked on it today. |
 | Bass is a weapon. Drums are a weapon. You are a space beetle charging forward towards an evil skull from Hell. \m/ |
 | In many ways, this is the best "Uncharted Game" of all the Uncharted games. It's the most polished in every respect, it has the most interesting story, and it's the most varied. By the end of the game, though, I found myself tired of Uncharted. I didn't want to shoot more dudes with the middling gun controls, I didn't want to hold up on the left stick to climb up another wall. I really enjoyed my time with Uncharted 4, but I'm hoping the series is actually over. At least the Nathan Drake games that look and play like this one. It was fun, but let's leave it at that. |
 | I played The Witness in fits and starts in 2016, but never "finished" it during the calendar year. I think I'll stick with it in 2017, but again, in bits and pieces. |
Best of 2016
My actual "top 10" was difficult to order, but I think this list below roughly approximates how much I loved each of these games. If you haven't already, please, please go play DOOM. You won't regret it.
10. Firewatch
I now know what Firewatch is.
9. Rock Band 4
"Rock Band Rivals" came out in 2016, which is sort of like Rock Band 5. I loved the cheesy FMV, the story mode, and the beautiful excuse to play more Rock Band.
8. Rhythm Heaven Megamix
I guess this isn't technically a new game -- it's a mash-up of mini-games from the previous Rhythm Heaven games, plus a few new ones -- but this is the most comprehensive package this series has seen to date. It's also wrapped in an appropriately nonsensical story about a little guy getting to the clouds based on music and rainbows.
7. Overwatch
Blizzard once again takes a well-worn genre and spins their take on it into gold. I typically dislike multiplayer shooters, but there's enough for everyone to do in Overwatch that anyone can contribute, no matter your preferred play style or general skill level. The "brawls" that continued to pop-up throughout the year were varied and generally worthwhile. Here's hoping that continues in 2017!
6. Titanfall 2
I bought a tiny bag of Doritos to get a "2XP" code for this game. Perhaps that says more about me than it does about Titanfall 2. The single-player campaign is really what I loved about the experience, more than anything. I wish it was twice as long and had even more to do! Perhaps there is room for some single-player DLC in here? I'd play it!
5. HITMAN
I haven't played past the Paris map in HITMAN just yet. This is not to say the game is overly difficult, or that I didn't want to spend more time with it. Rather, I played the missions in the levels up to and including the Paris map so many times that I have yet to *want* to move on. I'm honestly so excited about playing through more of this, and the fact that Season 2 is on the horizon for 2017! It is indeed a world of assassination.
4. Picross 3D: Round 2
"Hi! Are you the best 3DS game?"
"Yes, it's me, the best 3DS game."
Picross 3D might sound mundane, but it's the most relaxing thing, while simultaneously being a mentally-stimulating brain workout. The best use of a stylus in 2016! Also, amiibos!!
3. SUPERHOT
SUPER
HOT
SUPER
HOT
SUPER
HOT
2. Hyper Light Drifter
Style for days, but not without substance. The combat is challenging and unforgiving, but it's not unfair or frustrating. I had a similar feeling when playing this game that I had when playing Bloodborne earlier in the year, where it "clicked" for me. I got into a flow with Hyper Light Drifter that made me want to stay with it, all the way through. With the relatively recent 60fps update, I'll almost certainly take another run through this in 2017.
1. DOOM
DOOM is not only the best game of 2016 -- by far -- it's also the best first-person shooter experience I've had with a game in a long, long time. Maybe ever. DOOM is fast, unrelenting, and always moving forward. If you stand still, you're dead. All of the weapons are fun to use, and they all serve their purpose. I wanted to see the DOOM SLAYER fully upgraded and ready to take out the demon horde. I wanted to find every collectible doll, every codex entry, every bonus line of dialogue. Everything in DOOM feels worthwhile. Nothing feels as if it is out of place or unnecessary. The music is unstoppable and perfectly suited to the atmosphere. It propels the player forward, into the pile of snarling demons. Dive in -- you can take them on. I'm going to stop writing now and go play DOOM again. I highly suggest you do, too.
Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful, safe, happy, and fulfilling 2017. Be excellent to each other!