Another year, another game of the year post from Shea that goes up a few months late. It’s hard playing video games, you guys. They’re expensive, they take up a ton of time, and they tend to be hard to play when your PS4 is out of commission for six months and your PC gets a virus right as the Steam winter sale starts up. Add moving twice, a job search, and just general other obligations like being married and whatnot, and it’s a miracle I was able to play as many games as I did.
But enough excuses. Let’s take a look at everything I played in 2016 (bleeding over into 2017), and then we’ll break down this year’s categories — leading up to my top 10 games of 2016!
Games I Played
*Links will take you to a game’s written review.
35 MM (PC)
Abzu (PS4)
Asemblance (PS4)
Battlefield 1 (PS4)
Bioshock: The Collection (PS4)
DOOM (PS4)
Fallout 4: Automatron (PS4)*
Fallout 4: Nuka World (PS4)*
Fallout 4: Vault Tech (PS4)*
Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
Firewatch (PS4)
Furi (PS4)
Grow Up (PS4)
Inside (PS4)
Let It Die (PS4)
Oxenfree (PC)
Pokemon GO (iOS)
Pokemon Uranium (PC)
Ratchet & Clank (PS4)
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration (PS4)
Skyrim Special Edition (PS4)
Super Mario Run (iOS)
Superhot (PC)
The Banner Saga 2 (PC)
The Flame in the Flood (PC)
The NADI Project (PC)
The Tomorrow Children (PS4)
The Witness (PS4)
Titanfall 2 (PS4)
Transmissions Element 120 (PC)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)
Unravel (PS4)
Valley (PS4)
Watch Dogs 2 (PS4)
* Not eligible, DLC
A note on HD remasters: Every game that released in 2016 is eligible for the top 10 — even HD remasters. The way I see it, this is a completely subjective list, so if re-playing an old game in a new way was one of my favorite gaming experiences of the year, that deserves to be called out. In the same vein, playing through a remastered game I’ve never played before also deserves consideration. However, the quality of the remaster and/or how long it’s been since I’ve played the original game impacts its ranking. The goal is to give wholly new games the advantage in a direct comparison. Like I said, it’s subjective.
The Categories
Best Looking Game
Best Setting
Best Music
Best Characters
Best Story
Most Disappointing Game
Game of the Year
For all categories except Game of the Year, I’ll have a ranked list of five plus as many honorable mentions as deserve to be mentioned. Game of the Year will be a ranked list of 10 with some honorable mentions. (For the record, all honorable mentions will be listed in alphabetical order, not ranked order.)
Given the nature of this post, there will be spoilers throughout. Let’s get started on the next page with the first category — Best Looking Game!
