Overwatch
Ah, Overwatch. While I said that there is no order to this list, Overwatch is the game I definitely enjoyed playing the most in 2016. I had absolutely no interest in this game before the open beta started but I downloaded it because a couple of friends were really enjoying it. And what an experience. As someone who has very rarely enjoyed multiplayer games, Overwatch felt like a breath of fresh air to me, rewarding good playing without shining a spotlight on failure is what has kept me coming back to this game throughout the year since it's May release. I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I payed full price for two copies of the game on two separate platforms, something I have not done before and don't see myself doing again. It's a one of a kind experience for me and I can't get enough.
Titanfall 2
From just after it's release I heard many good things about the campaign of this game. I'm not really a FPS guy (despite the first two games on this list) but I started hearing so many good things about the single player, people comparing it to the Half Life 2 campaign and saying it's the best FPS story in many years. I may not agree with the former (Half Life 2 is a fantastic story that I enjoy every time I play it), but I do agree with the latter. There are so many good things to say about the single player in Titanfall 2, it introduces new mechanics often before asking you to master them before pushing them aside for another mechanic. It might be a shame to some people that mechanics are dropped so quickly, it means you enjoy them before they wear thin and start grating on you. Along with the excellent first person platforming and great interaction with BT, it is an experience I will remember for a while. The multiplayer is fine.
Ratchet and Clank
Ratchet and Clank is a 2002 game developed by Insomnia games for the PS2. This is not that game. Nor is it the film of the game. It is the remake of the 2002 game of which there is a film based on. And it's a great game. Every time I play a new Ratchet game, I enjoy it more than the last, with my previous favourite in the series being A Crack In Time and this game continues the tradition by becoming my new favourite. A beautiful looking, fantastically fun game with excellently designed weapons that all actually feel different and great third person platforming, this is a classic platformer that has been brought forward to modern standards. I enjoyed it so much that I actually went for the platinum for it, and I don't do that too often.
Dark Souls 3
After the excellent Bloodborne, I was wondering how From Software could possibly top what has becoming one of my favourite games ever. Well they didn't quite get there but they did make a fantastic Dark Souls game and a great end to the trilogy. By combining the previous slower paced gameplay of the first two games and the quick action of Bloodborne, From reaches a nice middle ground that makes the combat feel both fresh and familiar and mostly importantly, fun. While also tugging at nostalia for the first game with locations and item descriptions, the game manages to look to the past while also offering up some great new content in bosses and fantastic new areas (Irithyll of the Boreal Valley might be my favourite Souls area). It might be a bit more linear that the first Souls in terms of overall map design, but I feel as a total package it is much more stable in terms of quality.
Firewatch
What is Firewatch? Turns out Firewatch is a beautiful game with a story about two fire lookouts who only have each other for conversation. As such it's a story about loneliness and isolation that shows what can happen when your mind runs away from you. The interaction between the two main characters is excellent and makes these two characters feel like actual humans. Many could write this off as a walking simulator, and while there isn't much gameplay outside walking, the way you can choose the replies you send to Delilah give more depth to both of the main characters. The ending might not be what everyone wanted for the game but I thought that it was much more grounded and realistic and enjoyed it for what it was.
Forza Horizon 3
Before this year I thought racing games just weren't my thing but as it turns out I just hadn't found the right game yet. When the first Forza Horizon came for free on Games for Gold I fell in love. The open world nature of the Horizon games allows me a break from the constant racing by allowing me to do doughnuts in the middle of the outback or just smash a construction site, always working towards another unlock no matter what I'm doing. I have a reason to do anything I want to do in Forza Horizon and everything I do feels fun. The cars control excellently, you can tune and tweak every car to make them perfect for you and the races themselves are varied and very enjoyable. It turns out Austalia is the perfect place to set an open world driving game.
Final Fantasy XV
The only game on my list that I didn't finish the story on and yet I feel strongly enough about my 30 or so hours so far that I believe it definitely belongs on my list. I am a person who has never completed a Final Fantasy game before. A mixture of lack of interest and not owning the right platforms growing up means I was never really into the series before XV. The first thing that grabbed my attention was the change to real time combat in this game which I much prefer to turn based systems in JRPGs and after hearing many people, both old FF fans and newcomers to the series, saying that it's a really fun game I thought I would check it out. And it's really very good. The main four characters are great and have fantastic interactions between themselves, helping each other in combat and joking with each other on the field lends more to that game than any other aspect but it's such a strong part of what that game is that it feels integral to the game as a whole. The fun combat, the great characters and the 'just one more quest' aspect make for a brilliant game that will be the first Final Fantasy I actually complete.
Update: I finished the story and put about ten hours into the post-game. I love FFXV. Story was a bit weak towards the end but I loved playing it.
Shantae: 1/2 Genie Hero
Having only got into the Shantae series this year with the excellent Pirate's Curse, this game wasn't on my radar until late in the year. When this game came out I was very much itching for a good 2D platformer and this game scratched that itch perfectly. Very well designed levels mixed with the interesting transformations make the game feel a lot bigger than what is originally presented to you, with you having to go back to each level several times with new abilities to get all the items in those levels. Along with great boss fights and a brilliant OST, this game blew me away over and over again, I had a smile on my face for the majority of my playthrough. Whilst I might rate it slightly below Pirate's Curse (I loved the gear more than the dances) I feel like it was the perfect follow up and enjoyed my time with it immensely.
So there we have it, the eight games I enjoyed most that came out this year. A special mention will go to both Dishonored 2 and Doom, both of which I'm in the middle of playing and both of which are very fun games. You can think of them as my last two if you'd like but I haven't played enough of either to definitely put them on this list. I hope you enjoyed my rambling about video games and hope I can continue to update this blog throughout 2017! Here's to a better year for games and for everything else.
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