Sulphur on 31/12/2016 at 11:26
Ouch, I didn't expect Uncharted 4 to be a slog, given Druckmann and Straley did UC2, but I suppose I'll find out what's going on with it one way or the other eventually.
I was also looking forward to people chewing over FFXV because it seems full of things that, nominally, everyone would hate. Another one to keep an eye out for in 2017; I hope it gets a PC port someday.
Note to self: get a PS4.
Moving on with the best X of the year is the...
Best/Most Fucked Up Game of 2016: Inside
As henke mentioned above, the puzzling to Inside is natural in a way that feels effortless but belies how much thought has gone into its design. It's a through-line for almost every aspect of the game, from the grim, near monochromatic palette that throws the edges of its nightmarish city into relief to the fluid tactility of its animations. I gawped a bit at the Unity logo at the end, because I've never seen anything animate as well on it before.
Besides all of that, it is still a game from the makers of Limbo, so there's some pretty ghoulish humour involving bodies, mind control, and efficient recycling. When it's not being blackly funny, it's creepy and nightmarish, from its ghostly underwater denizens to the disconcerting limp ragdoll of the boy when he's tazed after being spotted by a searchlight.
And then there's the final ten minutes, which would have been like watching a trainwreck if it weren't for the fact that you were the one causing it. I'm deeply conflicted about the way the game caps itself, but it is definitely something I haven't seen or felt in video gaming in a long time, and for that alone, it's one of the standouts of the year.
henke on 31/12/2016 at 13:42
My issues with Uncharted 4 may have more to do with me than the game. Certainly it reviewed well and I can't deny it's really well-put-together. And stealth is much more viable than in any of the earlier games! But I think one Uncharted game was all I really needed. Played Uncharted 3, liked it, then played 2 and was underwhelmed by it. 4, even more so. Each time Nathan Drake almost falls from a broken ledge but then saves himself at the last moment, I care less and less about any of it.
Quote Posted by twisty
Renowned Explorers: International Society. I'm not usually much of a fan of roguelikes but this charming little game has been one of the best finds all year.
Thanks for pointing this out, twisty. I hadn't heard of it before, but it looks good! If I didn't already have a handful of unplayed strategy games in my Steam library, I'd pick it up right away.
Thirith on 31/12/2016 at 14:52
I think henke's right in his assessment of Uncharted and diminishing returns. I enjoyed the series better than him as a whole, and I enjoyed U4 too, though I'm also thinking it'll be good if they end it here. There's nothing in the game that'll surprise you (okay, one thing perhaps), but it's supremely well made comfort gaming IMO.
faetal on 31/12/2016 at 15:41
Renowned Explorers looking very much like my kind of thing. Boughted.
SubJeff on 31/12/2016 at 17:05
The only new (new, I did get Sunset, Ori and Invisible Inc) games I got this year were:
The Witness - I love it but I had a break and now I've forgotten a lot of the puzzle rules :( Still think it's great though.
Hyperlight Drifter - Great stuff. I love everything about this so far - the gameplay, the visuals, the music. But I was taken in by the trailer in the first place and I've got the soundtrack on Spotify.
I haven't played Dishonored 2 yet. As soon as I build my new PC I'm all over it.
I haven't played Abzu but I loved Journey. The best thing was the MP though. I had some great partners but then I did get it on release so there were a lot of players and some more, some less experienced than I.
Of course I played a ton of Company of Heroes MP and with the new PC will move to CoH2.
Neb on 31/12/2016 at 19:08
Particle Fleet: Emergence - an indie strategy simulation where you design and build spaceships to fend off a liquid physics enemy. I mentioned it in the most anticipated thread and it turned out to be a great game.
Yakoob on 31/12/2016 at 21:05
Damn, I missed on a lot of releases this year. Out of the few I played, nothing really sticks out. I guess the most GOTY would be Life is Strange but that was released way before. The 2nd and 3rd episode... one of the rare few games that ever made me genuinely feel guilty.
Sulphur on 1/1/2017 at 11:08
Play more games from 2016, then! Doom's a heck of a thing, at the very least.
Happy new year, folks. I'm a bit buzzed, but that won't stop me from posting about...
The Most Pixel Neon Game of 2016: Hyper Light Drifter
Probably a bit of a bias showing here, since I backed the Kickstarter campaign on the strength of its video. It turned out, in my opinion, to be money well spent. Essentially Zelda with a chronic heart illness bathed in lambent purple and teal, it's not as merciless as a 2D Dark Souls would have been, but it's measured, precise, and will beat your ass like a bongo for being impatient in combat situations. There's a little of Fez to it in how there are hidden layers and secrets almost everywhere, and a lot of Fez to it in the soundtrack from Disasterpeace.
I haven't finished it yet, because every time I complete 2 or 3 out of the four sections on the map, my savegame gets wiped by the random intervention of fate. I'll find the time for the 4th attempt this year, but I'm confident in my assessment when I tell you Hyper Light Drifter is well worth playing if you appreciate finely-tuned, tactile gameplay. Outside of that, its wordless storytelling - environmental and otherwise - is like an expedition to find meaning in the decomposing flesh of the long-dead. It's evocative and tragic; it's also unique in making me realise that I'm very probably dead inside, because none of it made me feel a single damn thing.
And that's important, too. Recommended.
Thirith on 1/1/2017 at 11:29
I don't have a list as such, and I definitely don't order them, but here are some of the titles I really enjoyed in 2016:
Hyper Light Drifter
While there have been many games that pushed my nostalgia button, this one was odd: I don't think I ever played anygames like this as a kid. I only played my first Zelda game in, oh, 2012, I think, so HLD didn't make me think back fondly to my childhood memories of similar action adventures. The visual style, while clearly old-school, also has more of a CGA look and feel (the colours!), which again was something that I missed out on as a kid. It's more like HLD made me nostalgic for a past that never happened to me. I love the game's evocative atmosphere and elliptic worldbuilding and storytelling, and once you *get* the controls (which are improved in the 60fps version, I hear), navigating these spaces and combat feel pretty damn cool.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
I hope that the Chinese Room will do something different next, because in so many ways this is a reskin of Dear Esther. However, they've again excelled at creating a very specific place, and I like the way the story and characters come together. This is a kind of sci-fi I really like, an utterly domestic, poignant story of how the world ended. I'm curious to see other, more experimental uses of this sort of digital 'environmental theatre' that make more use of interactivity.
Hitman
I don't use sandboxes to experiment much; I tend to find an approach that I enjoy and then stick to it. Nevertheless, the murder sandboxes of Hitman are endlessly fascinating, and the levels are some of the most real-feeling virtual locations I've ever played in. I'd never really got into the earlier Hitman games, bouncing off Blood Money quite hard; I saw the potential, but the game never played as smoothly as I wanted it to. Hitman feels like the game I wanted the earlier titles to be, and I'm kinda hoping they'll bring some of the classical levels to this one, remade and reimagined, with more new opportunities for silly, darkly funny homicide.
Oculus Rift
I was on board with VR pretty early on, and while this is still early days, I think the medium has amazing potential. I already loved playing Elite Dangerous in VR, but when I got the Oculus Touch controllers the tech went from "pretty nifty and immersive" to "brain splodes". It's as much fun demoing this to others and seeing their reactions as it is to use it. Is VR the future? I don't think it'll replace regular gaming, nor do I want it to - but I love what it does and I'm hoping that it'll succeed and become better over the coming years.
Malleus on 1/1/2017 at 15:06
The games I played that were released this year were:
Dishonored 2
Great stealth action gameplay and amazing level design in a unique and interesting world. Others have mentioned it but the Clockwork Mansion and the Stilton Manor really stands out, even when compared to other games. The are opportunities for different playstyles and the two main characters offer extra replayability. The story isn't that good, but it didn't detract from the experience for me. If I have to pick a GOTY this would be it.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Pretty much refnied the formula of DXHR, had great detailed and interesting environments, and missions, and I personally liked the story too, even though DXHR was better in that regard IMO.
The Turing Test
A first person puzzler with a predictable but well presented story and interesting but mostly easy puzzles. It's not on par with the best of the genre, but it wasn't bad.
Dark Souls 3
In a nutshell: abandoned tons of mechanical improvements DS2 made, unnecessarily fast paced, blatant fanservice everywhere, coop is worse than in previous games and PvP is just crap. The core gameplay still carries it, and it's far from being a bad game, but it's definitely the disappointment of the year.
Other games I played:
Life is Strange
I found this to be a very engrossing and moving experience, and unique too, at least compared to the games/stories I usually come across. Not without flaws both technically, and in storytelling, but I really liked it.
The classic Tomb Raider franchise
This is easily the biggest thing for me this year, playing through the classic TR franchise (that is nine games) starting in february with the original Tomb Raider and finished in december with Underworld. It was one hell of an adventure, and I loved it. I think I liked Angel of Darkness the most, closely followed by The Last Revelation. Of the trio of games made by Crystal Dynamics, Anniversary was my favorite. The worst of the bunch (not outright bad games at all) were Legend and Chronicles, though C is a mixed bag - it's made up of four very distinct chapters, with one great piece, and one godawful episode. Interestingly, these two were the shortest as well, taking around 7 hours to beat. The longest game was TR3 with a whopping 25 hours gameplay. I think apart from the tank controls, the old games hold up really well. All in all, it was a fun ride, and I'm glad I got around playing them.
