My ten favorite games of 2016

Like 2015 before it, 2016 was an amazing year for video games. I’m just making sure to emphasize how great it was for games specifically; 2016 has otherwise been a nightmare. But let’s not dwell on that! This year has brought us a handful of stand-out innovations, franchises that still managed to surprise, and a surplus of fantastic games from the continually growing indie scene. No matter what kind of games you are into, there is undoubtedly a handful of titles that had an impact on you this year.

Unlike 2015, I found it difficult to narrow my list down to ten. So I’m going to rattle off a few honorable mentions that deserve praise for one reason or another, but just missed out on my final list. I’m talking about games like Dishonored 2, Firewatch, DOOM, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, One Night Stand, Mafia III, and Ratchet & Clank. All of these games offered something special in a year full of excellent experiences. Also, special shout out to Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare for providing a campaign that made me care about Call of Duty again. I still find your zombies mode boring and have given up on your competitive multiplayer, but your campaign reminded me of why I loved the series to begin with.

Now let’s dig into the top ten!

Very recently I wrote at length about Final Fantasy XV’s strengths, and more importantly, its myriad weaknesses. FFXV was poised to become one of the strongest games in the franchise because it seemed to be changing up the formula in some exciting ways. But thanks to a lengthy development cycle and the creative team behind it attempting to tell a story too big for the game to contain in an attempt to live up to the Final Fantasy name, it doesn’t quite succeed. Despite its narrative flaws, I still adored FFXV for what it was: a fun road trip with some good friends.

While FFXV didn’t accomplish everything it set out to do, it managed to capture me in a way a game like FFXIII did not: it gave me likeable characters and let me roam around, learning about them naturally through my own experiences. Were the quests all that exciting? Not always. Was the party dialogue at time repetitive? Absolutely. But those moments of brilliance still shined through just enough to make me appreciate (almost) everything this game was trying to accomplish. It even gave me a villain that rivaled one of the all-time series bests, which is something I never expected. In the end, if I had to rank my favorite Final Fantasy games, this might just make the list. And if you know anything about how incredible this series has been in the past, you know that’s high praise.

Speaking of long development cycles, Owlboy is a game that I’ve seen talked about on and off for nearly a decade now. Thankfully, the end product is a beautiful 2D side-scroller with an incredible soundtrack and tight gameplay. I loved its blend of side-scrolling shooting and light Metroid-inspired exploration and even found the story to be touching in spite of its simplicity. It’s a heartwarming game that I simply can’t stop thinking about ever since I finished it almost two months ago.

We are in an age of consistently fantastic indie titles, especially those that wear their influences on their sleeves, so standing out in that crowd is hard. With all of that being said, Owlboy holds its own just fine among some of the best of its kind. If you haven’t played this one, I highly recommend it.

I began this post discussing stand-out innovations, so of course I’m going to talk about the most innovative game I’ve played all year. Superhot is a remarkably fun first-person shooter with a simple concept: time only moves when you do. This turns what might be ordinary gunfights into scenes out of some of your favorite action films. And although this concept makes it seem like it will be an easy experience, the game finds new and creative ways to mix things up and keep you on your feet.

Despite its short length, clocking in at around 2–3 hours, it leaves a lasting impression. Few games stick with you the same way this one does, especially if you’ve been playing shooters for as long as I have and are desperate for something different. Although some may argue it could have taken the concept even further than it did, I appreciate the game’s brevity. It doesn’t overstay its welcome and still manages to run you through an exciting variety of scenarios that all stand apart from one another.

The original Titanfall kind of came and went despite having a ton of anticipation and a dedicated fanbase. It was a great game, but it felt like it was missing something. And I’m not just talking about the game’s lack of a single-player campaign, it just felt lacking in some way. Thankfully, Titanfall 2 picks up all of the slack and offers not only one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in a long time, but fantastic competitive multiplayer that builds on the original.

It boils down to one thing: the movement. Simply running around and shooting enemies in Titanfall 2, whether its in the campaign or multiplayer, is a blast. Once you get the hang of the fast movement speed, wall-running, and sliding, you find yourself pulling things off you may have never thought possible in a shooter like this. I found myself having a blast with the campaign and really digging into the multiplayer, something that rarely happens these days. The titans themselves even feel better thanks to a variety of different titan classes and abilities, with each one suited to a particular play style (although, let’s be real, Tone is the best). While Titanfall 2 is a game I was looking forward to, it may just be the biggest surprise of the year for me.

How often do highly anticipated upcoming games not only live up to, but exceed expectations? It’s rare, to say the least. Hitman is one of those games, taking everything fans know and love about the previous titles and mixing them together into a near-perfect package. Many were convinced the episodic model would only hurt the game, but it actually benefited it. Hitman is a prime example of episodic gaming done right. Each level is gigantic, offering a variety of challenges and methods in which you dispose of your targets. It’s pretty typical Hitman stuff, but the levels offer a level of freedom not seen in previous titles.

This is why the episodic format worked, it gave each level a chance to breathe. I heard from countless players about how they would have blazed through all of the levels without much thought if they had access to the complete package from day one. Speaking from experience, I know would have done the same. Would I still replay my favorite levels? Absolutely, but I wouldn’t pay as much attention to them as I did knowing the next level was 1–2 months away.

Plus, the elusive target system is fantastic, giving players only a couple of days (and one attempt) to take out a target. Once that attempt was completed, regardless of success, the target was gone forever. This gave people a chance to test their own knowledge of these levels in order to achieve their ultimate objective. While I didn’t participate in these as much as I would have liked throughout the year, the fact that they will be continuing to roll out in 2017, months after the completion of “season one,” is a great way to keep people coming back for more.

Hitman is a series near and dear to me, so seeing the team at IO not only create an excellent sequel catering to hardcore fans while also bringing in new players is something I admire. I’ve been playing the series since Hitman 2, but I’ll never gripe about people new to the series finally finding an entry point. It speaks to just how this new Hitman is equally robust and welcoming, a trend I home continues into the next several years with many other long-standing franchises.

Speaking of a game being welcoming, Overwatch is one of the friendliest competitive games I’ve played in recent memory. By hiding away your typical kill-to-death ratio and other, similar stats, it provides players who may not be the best at the game an opportunity to succeed or at least feel like they are contributing to each match. It makes you feel like your part of a team and rewards not only the winners, but those who did well utilizing their specific character’s abilities. Even when I lost a match in Overwatch, I never really felt angry about it.

While my meager 15-20 hours with the game pales in comparison to many people I played with, I never ran into anyone being an ass via voice chat or anyone purposefully attempting to be a jerk. Keep in mind, I exclusively played on PS4; from what I understand, that is a bit more prevalent on PC. All that being said, I discovered a multiplayer shooter that I connected with, one I managed to spend more than just a handful of hours with before moving on. Sure, I haven’t touched Overwatch in months, but that doesn’t mean the time I spent with it was anything less than remarkable.

I’ve talked so much about how welcoming Overwatch is, but I haven’t even touched on just how amazingly fun it is to play. Regardless of who you played as the most, you were bound to have a good time. Each character is brilliantly designed and offers a unique perspective on how you approach each match. Not every character is well-suited to every map, but that’s why it’s good to have a handful of favorites. And yes, the comparisons to Team Fortress 2 were and still are applicable, but in my mind, Overwatch is handily the better game here. Maybe that’s a topic for another time though.

More so than any other game this year, Inside took me on a journey that was full of surprises. Cronenbergian surprises, mind you. It tells a beautiful story with no words and does it effortlessly. It’s gorgeous, its level design is top notch, and it features one of the greatest and most shocking final acts I’ve ever experienced in the game. I don’t really have too much else to say about it simply because it’s a game that begs to be played. And clocking in at around 3–4 hours, it’s one that you’ll want to complete in a single sitting. If you even remotely enjoyed Playdead’s previous game, Limbo, you’re in for a treat. An unsettling, awe-inspiring treat.

In comparison to pretty much all other games on my list, Forza Horizon 3 is the game that plays it the safest. But it builds on a franchise that, in my mind, is one of the greats. As someone who had fallen out of love with racing game after the unfortunate demise of Burnout (and the downward spiral of mediocrity that was the Need for Speed series), I was left with an itch that needed scratching. Mario Kart is fun, yeah, but it’s a different beast. I wanted something else, something that would grab me the same way Burnout did all those years ago. Forza Horizon came along and did just that, with each subsequent entry only improving an already brilliant formula. You can see where I’m going with this.

Forza Horizon 3 is familiar, sure, but its massive scope and exciting event design make it one of the most remarkable racing games to come along since, well, Forza Horizon 2. On top of all of that, I love to roam around this world, seeking out new challenges and secrets, finding little things tucked in the corners. Above all else, it’s calming in a way few games are. Even during its hardest challenges, it’s utterly relaxing.

It’s part of the reason why the best parts of FFXV, the “road trip with your buddies” moments, had such an impact on me. FH3 doesn’t offer you an expansive narrative, a bad guy to defeat, or much of an end goal at all beyond “make this great racing festival even greater and have fun doing it.” It doesn’t really care how good you are or how many assists you turn on, it just wants you to have a good time. Sometimes, that’s all you really need. Here’s hoping the tradition continues and Forza Horizon 4 makes my 2018 list.

Hyper Light Drifter was originally described to me as “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past meets Dark Souls.” Okay, sure, I’ll bite. I’ve gone on record many times explaining why the “Souls” series has never clicked with me despite my many attempts to get into it, but that’s no fault of the series, it’s simply not my cup of tea. That being said, there are elements of that series I find fascinating, primarily just how mysterious the whole thing is. It doesn’t hold your hand and spell things out for you, it believes you’re smart enough to figure it out on your own. And even if you’re not interested in digging into the little details of the story and world, there is still plenty to find and enjoy.

That sums up why I love Hyper Light Drifter. It asks you to seek the answers for yourself, only to reward you with a game so tightly designed that it makes other 2D games pale in comparison (including one on this very list). It’s also one of the most gorgeous games I have ever played. I know pixel art isn’t everyone’s thing, but c’mon, this game looks incredible. Every environment seems lovingly crafted, telling a story, or at least the beginning of a story, and practically begs you to learn more.

I’m not going to sit here and call HLD the deepest game around, but it found a way to get me invested in its world in a way that some of the best games have to try really damn hard to do. It accomplished its goal within the opening minutes of the game, the rest of it was simply a bonus. Needless to say, I was hooked, and while I typically get frustrated by obtuse and challenging games like this, I didn’t struggle with HLD. It really did remind me of Link to the Past in the best ways possible.

Oh, and seriously, this is the best soundtrack of the year. Disasterpiece, please keep making music until the end of time as your contribution to the medium has only helped elevate it further. Thank you for all that you do.

Despite singing high praises for the previous four titles on this list, Oxenfree, the very first game I played in 2016, is still my favorite. It’s rare when a game I played so many months ago still stays with me the same way Oxenfree did. It handled dialogue between characters so naturally, it made even the best of BioWare’s games look bad in comparison. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some BioWare RPGs, but the stilted conversations and dialogue trees featured in those games have nothing on Oxenfree’s naturally flowing conversations.

It helps that Oxenfree is cleverly written and gives you complete agency over the ultimate outcome despite having you play as a character with a pre-established (and at times tragic) history. The more you learn about Alex and her friends, the more you relate to them. There is a central mystery, complete with some unnerving moments, but this thankfully takes a backseat to the characters themselves, who are all excellent. That’s not to say the story is not a focus, it is, but it’s less about the central mystery and more about how these characters deal with a situation they never even imagined would be possible.

When I said it gives you agency over the outcome, I meant the relationships between the characters. The story more or less plays out similarly, but at the end of the day that’s not why you’re invested. You want to see these characters make it out of their predicament as best as possible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way.

Oh, and I can’t forget about its clever use of online that relates to not only the story itself, but provides a deeper meaning of the events that proceeded it. Its implementation of its sole online feature is not only genius, it’s surprisingly understated, so much so that many people I spoke with about it didn’t even realize it was in the game. One, those people weren’t paying as much attention as they should have, but two, it doesn’t hit you over the head with it when it’s happening. For those who want to discover it for themselves, I’ll keep it a secret, but it essentially takes a concept found in a game like Journey and applies it to Oxenfree’s core feature: its dialogue choices.

Despite Telltale’s efforts to revitalize the adventure genre, their formula has only turned out a few real winners, and they’re all a little too similar for my taste. Oxenfree manages to standout and present us with a new take on a very old genre, providing me with one of the most likeable (and reletable) casts of characters I’ve seen in any game like it. In short, this game is a treasure and I can’t recommend it enough.