This year has been great, can't even figure out my GOTY

I've played a ton of games this year, and I think a real testament to the strength of this gaming year is I'm having a hard time figuring out what my favorite game is.

I've loved The Witness, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, HITMAN, Fire Emblem: Fates, Uncharted 4, DOOM, etc.

Haven't even played Dark Souls III, Inside and many more.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way! To me all these games are basically a tie...wow.

Yeah, a pretty good year so far. Although, I'd say The Witness is far and away the frontrunner for me.

Interestingly enough, the three game I was looking forward to most this year are my three favourites so far:

1. The Witness
2. Zero Time Dilemma
3. XCOM 2

Best time to be playing video games .

1. Uncharted 4

2. The Witness

3. Zero Time Dilemma

4. Inside

5. Doom

@spankingaddict: I'm playing through 999 now! I will eventually play the whole Zero Escape series.

I thought it was very clear that the GOTY is the Blood & Wine DLC for The Witcher 3.

It's been a weird year. Many of the titles I was hoping would be good turned out to be pretty disappointing (Mirror's Edge, Star Fox, The Division). However, there have been a ton of great surprises- games I either had low expectations for or didn't even know were coming out. As it stands right now, here's what's making my list:

-Salt and Sanctuary: I've been waiting for this since Jason played it a while back. Turned out to be a lot better than I expected! I even like it better than Dark Souls II!

-SUPERHOT: This always looked neat, but the final product blew me away. Only way I could have had a better time with this is if there were more levels.

-Stardew Valley: I never even came close to enjoying Harvest Moon, but Stardew Valley hooked me bad. My wife and I put way too much time into this.

-DOOM: Could not have cared less about this game pre-release. Now it's probably one of my favorite shooter campaigns ever.

-Uncharted 4: Pretty much met my expectations gameplay-wise, but the character work blew me away.

-Hyper Light Drifter: I've been so excited for this game for so long, and the final product did not disappoint. The dash ability sealed the deal for me. Feels so good once I got the rhythm down.

-Furi: Had no idea this existed until I saw the Quick Look. Played it on PS4 and loved it. Combat feels good in a similar way that Hyper Light Drifter does.

-Dark Souls III: Had high expectations. Was not disappointed. Probably my second favorite game in the series.

-Stellaris: It's definitely not as deep or satisfying as my true love (Europa Universalis IV), but the sci-fi setting and the inherent variety that comes with it meant I still had a great time. Plus it's a lot more accessible than Paradox's other games.

-Overwatch: This will probably be my GOTY unless No Man's Sky or FFXV are better than I'm expecting. I wasn't even sure that I wanted to buy this before it was out. Spent some time in the beta and a couple of heroes really clicked with me. Many weeks later and I'm completely hooked. I'm confident in saying that this is far and away my favorite multiplayer shooter.

I havent played a game better than xcom 2 that came out this year yet. Stellaris has great potential but falls kinda flat when you start actually interacting with other races. Doom got boring and uncharted4 felt overrated.

Yeah well, we still have half a year to go and a shit ton of releases, so good luck with that.

I wrote this earlier in the week, so needless to say, I agree.

The one game I'm going to call out once again here is Severed, because that game needs more love, and will be coming out on Wii U, 3DS, and iOS I believe sometime in the next couple months, thus no longer being held back by the Vita's small install base.

Nothing is even close to The Witness for me

A number of the games I was really looking forward to this got pushed back, so there hasn't been anything that really blew me away yet, but there are a few standout experiences all the same, like Overwatch, Witcher 3: Blood and Wine, and Zero Time Dilemma.

The game's that have the most chance to contend for my GOTY are still yet to come though, so there's still stuff that could be an easy winner.

My top game right now is, surprising to me as it wasn't even on my radar until the day I ordered it because of Giant Bomb, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Go figure

After that right now number 2 is probably Hyper Light Drifter and number 3 might be Salt and Sanc. I still haven't played Doom or The Witness which are on my radar though.

I didn't get a chance to play many of the titles others here have enjoyed from the early 2016 release schedule, but I have to say that Tokyo Mirage Sessions has really been a lot of fun to play, and so far it's one of my most favorite Wii U games too. Tomorrow I'm intending to pick up the new Monster Hunter game and hope to dive into that and finish up Tokyo Mirage Sessions so I can be ready to enjoy Dragon Quest VII upon release date in September.

Right now it's a really close and too hard to call tie between Stardew Valley and Doom, and the polar differences of those games really underline how great a time it is to be playing games.

Also this year has great runner ups! Dark Souls 3, Stellaris, Pokemon Go, Overwatch, SUPERHOT, Witcher 3 Blood and Wine (yes an expansion but more content then a ton of games out this year)

More then likely No Man's Sky will take my GOTY when it launches, since I've been looking forward to it since 2013 and I love everything about it, and yes nay-sayers I don't care if it's just fly around and scan things, I'm on board!

Not quite sure what I'm looking forward to in the last quarter of this year, nothing right now really speaks to me, but I'm sure there will be a few surprises.

This year and last year have been crazy insane goodness.

To think, we still got The Last Guardian coming out in October. Good lord.

As many amazing games have come and are coming, nothing has hooked me like stardew valley did. Still, I'm super optimistic for the rest of the year. I hope all the games are good!

Doom motherfuckers. DOOM. I can't remember the last time I had that much pure fucking fun playing an FPS. Goddamn.

It's certainly been a pretty great year so far, particularly after the last few months. My other favourites so far?

• Pocket Card Jockey (goddamn that game was like crack)
• Uncharted 4
• Inside
• Overwatch
• Fire Emblem Fates
• Severed

It's all shaping up pretty awesome. I also haven't touched some of the other great looking games that have released this year like The Witness, Dirt Rally and Hyper Light Drifter. I'd also like to pick up Quantum Break at some point, which looks like a good time - though not "one of the best titles of the year" good.

I've played 12 games so far this year. Overwtach and TMS#FE are neck and neck for the top spot, but I got 7th Dragon III Code VFD this week and I'm reeeeeeeally liking that. I mean, really really really loving it so far. Hard to say whether or not I'll feel the same when I wrap it up, but if it does manage to keep me hooked, I can easily see it skyrocketing to the top of my list.

That said, my expectations for World of Final Fantasy are still through the roof and although I'm somewhat cautious, I'm still really excited for FFXV as well.

There's a bunch of other games too that I haven't played yet or are looking forward to that I could see making my GOTY list including The Witness, Dragon Quest Builders, Last Guardian, Zero Time Dilemma, Grand Kingdom, Digimon, and whatever else I'm forgetting.

Fuck video games. There are too many of these day things to play. I love it.

Nothing so far has really been something that I want to consider game of the year really. I'm hoping Deus Ex: Makind Divided changes that.

I've only got a few games this year but hands down Stardew Valley is my GOTY so far. I don't have the computer I want for DOOM so I won't get it this year to play it. But I have not been so enthralled with a game in years I played it every chance I could get, even putting it on my laptop and gamepad into work so I could play it briefly at work. I can't wait for the next big content patch to play it all again. Also it is one of my favorite soundtracks in gaming. I listen to some of the songs at least every day. Secret Woods and Spirits Eve songs are the best.

If Overwatch didn't have so many small things that bug me, (and a few bigger ones) it could also be in the running.

Stellaris is super fun. I do need to spend more time with it though. It's such a big investment though.

The stuff I was most excited for this year all got delayed into the next one (Nier, Horizon, Persona 5, Zelda), so the remainder of this year isn't so exciting for me. I'm still trying to catch up on what came out in the past 6 months though so I'm not exactly wanting for some other big thing to come out either.

TMS#FE really came outta nowhere for me and it might end up being my GOTY. It's so nice to play a JRPG that's lighthearted for once-- and a turn-based one to boot.

I'm slacking this year. The only 2016 games I've played are Dying Light The Following, Hardware Rivals (about 30 mins), and Furi. If I'm able to beat Furi, I feel like it may fall into my list at the end of the year. But yeah, times are tough but I know there are games out that I would put in my GOTY list (Mirrors Edge Catalyst, Firewatch, Zero Time Dillema, Uncharted 4).

Man really wish I could progress in the witness. But man overwatch, doom uncharted 4 have all been great and I'm fully expecting to love and devour no mans sky

*whisper* Can I interest you in some of that Stardew Valley? *whisper*

Still the Witness for me; by a country mile.

Stardew Valley - still GOTY so far. Never played Harvest Moon. Kind of liked Animal Crossing. Love this.

XCOM 2 - was meant to be my GOTY based on what games were coming out. Will likely be in my top 10 but probably not right up there.

Overwatch - I don't really like FPS' anymore let alone online shooters. Overwatch is cool.

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine - this would actually be my #1 or #2 but that's based on the fact that The Witcher 3 is one of my all time favourite games already. Also DLC, I don't know....

Doom - see about about FPS'. Ignore what I said. Doom is fucken great.

Total War: Warhammer - goddamnit. Why is the best Total War game in ages a Warhammer game? I have Masters in History specialising in the Late Roman Republic yet this game is so much better than Rome 2 was. Fingers crossed for Medieval 3 to kick arse.

Fire Emblem Fates: Awakening - I haven't sunk enough time in to this yet, but I'm liking it.

Uncharted 4 I played and liked but I don't see it making my year end top 10 list. I'm yet to play The Witness, Dark Souls 3, Inside, Stellaris.

Civ VI comes out later this year and would have every chance of taking the top spot if it's half as good as Civ V ended up being.

Is Forza Horizon 3 this year as well?

Doom and Overwatch are the ones that made me most excited of how excellent they were. The last shooters I liked as much as this were Halo 3/Team Fortress 2, so it's been a while. I'm just hyped to like shooters again.

Dark Souls 3, Inside, Superhot, Amplitude, Fire Emblem.... More fuel to my fighting itch with Street Fighter and Guilty Gear. Good year so far, Can't deny it. That's not even talking about stuff I haven't played yet like Hyper Light Drifter, Salt and Sanctuary, Ratchet and Clank, Furi and Monster Hunter. Damn son. And I thought 2015 was good just because Witcher came out.

I can't believe how much I've been enjoying Overwatch. I didn't even intend to play it and have mostly given up on competitive shooters since Team Fortress 2, but all the praise eventually convinced me to try it. Now I find myself playing at least 2 hours a night. I hope something knocks it out of my current GotY spot, not because I dislike Overwatch, but because if any other releases this year end up being better they would likely end up being some of my favorite games of all time.

I really thought Doom would be a lock down goty for me, but then Overwatch happened. It almost feels unfair, so many other games could have made the cut this year, but jeeze, Doom is SO GOOD. And I could lie to myself and say "Overwatch is just ok" but I'm gonna end up with 300+ hours played of this game.

My backlog means i'm usually playing games which came out from the years before, occasionally sliding in new games.
So if i bend the rules my current GOTY is Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, honorable mentions include The Witcher 3 and the PC version of Dragon's Dogma.

Back to back years of gaming goodness is great, especially for the AAA scene unlike in 2014 where the indies carried it.

The Witness is still the frontrunner for me, but I think my fondness for Overwatch has turned into an outright addiction lately. Dark Souls III had a lot of amazing moments too, and I finally got to experience that sense of discovery with the Souls community for the first time with this release.

I like some things about the Uncharted series, but 4 has me straight up loving core elements of it.

Firewatch is a special little gem.

Furi is the surprise hit of the year.

Still looking forward to playing DOOM, waiting on Hyper Light Drifter and XCOM 2 to come out on consoles, and planning on getting Ratchet & Clank, Salt & Sanctuary, and Oxenfree when they inevitably go on sale near the year's end.

And yes, there's still No Man's Sky, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (and Deus Ex GO!), and The Last freakin' Guardian!

I'm also still kinda hopeful for Final Fantasy XV to be at the very least a good game. Doesn't have to be mindblowing. Just has to look great, run well, have an interesting story without too many insufferable JRPG tropes, and have a reasonably fun core loop to battles.

How crazy would this year have been though if Persona 5 and Horizon Zero Dawn weren't delayed?

oh yeah also HITMAN

I hypothesized this would be one of the best years in gaming. So far, I've been mostly right about it. Mirror's Edge Catalyst didn't quite do it for me as I expected, but I also am not in the mood for such a game, so I decided to return to it later.

In a surprising move though, it seems like Furi is my favorite game of the year so far. I love Dark Souls, I love XCOM, yet there is something Furi does that resonates with me so well. It also helps that it came out of nowhere for me. But yeah, that. Probably.

Why is nobody mentioning Enter the Gungeon? It's nails the roguelike mantra of "one more run". The guns are diverse and fun to use. There are a ton of secrets to discover. Oh and it's pretty damn hard, as most roguelikes are. It's right up there with The Binding of Isaac, Spelunky and Nuclear Throne as one of the best roguelikes ever made.

@cubidog1: Can't speak for anyone else, but I don't like the art of that game at all. Also don't particularly like top down shooters.

@cubidog1: I just started playing it yesterday thanks to a lovely psn sale and I must say it seems rather excellent. Looking forward to diving in.

So far my list is:

1. Stardew Valley

2. Overwatch

3. Doom

4. Zero Time Dilemma

5. Dark Souls 3

6. Tokyo Mirage Sessions

7. Salt and Sanctuary

8. Street Fighter V

9. The Witness

Looking forward to: Hitman, FF15. Might play Inside after I finish Limbo or something. Muv-Luv also on the radar. I'm very skeptical of NMS but hope it turns out well.

Really bummed about the P5 release date but beyond that probably the best gaming year in a long time.

Lots of good games out already (Uncharted 4 is probably my current GOTY), but I expect No Man's Sky to be my real GOTY once it comes out.

This will be a hard year because there are standouts - Overwatch, Doom, The Division, Hitman, Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted 4 etc

There is a whole cadre of solid innovative games that might not be huge hit but are amazing - Firewatch, Stardew Valley, Super Hot, Inside, Banner Saga 2, Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, Oxenfree, ...mother fracking Pony Island!

And...there are remarkable games that succeed and fail in equal measures.

• For instance, The Witness is a very interesting game, a really high profile critical favorite puzzle game....you don't see that often. But The Witness is also a game where the really unpleasant aspects of how Jonathan Blow personality and views on game talk about games has been shown in stark relief.
• Pokemon Go? Not strong as a game with rules and systems to be played, yet a huge phenomenon in it own right. Like Wii Sports level of phenomenon in the handheld space, but ist not really a great game not matter how you want o spin it.
• Street Fighter V? It is great right...? Or is it broken? Both views are correct views. As a fighting game head to head it great, but the game was sold stripped to the bone. The PvP is great the story is a burning-tire-fire that STILL seems unfinished.
• Then all the games that simply got beat by better games like Battleborn or Mirrors Edge Catalyst. In a year of great games, the merely 'okay games' can end up looking like crap.

I think this will be a year where we will all have to untangle "Influential" from "Great Game". This is a year of influential very interesting game and ist only half-over in terms of time and 1/4 done in terms of releases. We have not even seen No Man's Sky, Gear of War, Persona 5, Dishonored 2, Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Cuphead, TitanFall 2, Gran Tourismo Sport, ...yadda yadda yadda.

Way too early to say, but I think it's a safe bet that Doom is on my short list for sure. Not only because it's amazing, but because everyone was so convinced that it would be hot garbage. My favorite kind of great games are the ones that nobody saw coming.

The Witness is mine. Nothing else comes close.

Seriously DOOM is my GOTY at the moment, I finished that game with a smile on my face, it looks Incredible, the last boss melted my face off I cannot believe how amazing it looks AND plays.

Doom and Mirrors Edge Catalysis are both great can't touch last year for me on games but finally getting the Oculus Rift this year has made it the most memorable mind blowing experience in gaming in many many years I just want to play every single game in VR now.