Super on time Game of the Year list that as you can probably tell started off with me putting effort into it then slowly give not giving a fuck. Also as a bonus, two most disappointing games because seriously, fuck these two games specifically.
Runner Up for Most Disappointing: Fire Emblem Fates
Whoops, I completely forgot this even came out this year (my brain tried to went into protective mode and try to shield me from the terrible memories of this game). My first Fire Emblem experience was with Awakening which I absolutely loved. It had great memorable characters that made me want to restart battles if any one of them fell to a sword or lance or axe (sorry, Ricken, that was a tough fight and I had to move on, RIP). The characters are probably the most stand out thing from Awakening to me, I genuinely wanted to use Gaius in every battle because I wanted hang out with my boy (also, Sully is best girl). Awakening also had a really good use of the player's created character, as you are the brains to Chrom's brawn, the actual leader of the army. Sure, the player character became more important as the story went on but it all ties back to Chrom as well. It was great.
In comes Fire Emblem Fates, which turns all of those strengths Awakening had into weaknesses. Double down on the “anime-ness” of Awakening in the worse way possible? Check! Make the player character the center of the universe? Check! Implied anime levels of incest sister complex? Check! Turn any interesting aspects of the characters into archetypes? Check fucking check! I love the idea of Fates, splitting into two campaigns with two sides of a war and seeing it from both sides. Except Fates paints a very black and white picture of the conflict to the point where it might as well be Team Heroes vs Team Villains.
Most Disappointing Game
Man...fuck Street Fighter V. I also love Street Fighter V but also fuck Street Fighter V. From a hot mess of a launch to roller coaster of great character additions yet overpriced DLC, I've never been as conflicted about a game as I am with SFV. I love the way it plays, I feel it is in every way an improvement over the slower pace and crazy link timing combos of Street Fighter IV. The V system is a great alternative to the Ultra/Revenge meter of IV, it gives more diversity to characters and more tools in your pocket. Most characters V skill allow mitigation or total avoidance of fireballs which is fantastic to me as someone who's not a fan of the "fireball game" that Street Fighter can turn into. SFV emphasizes fast pace and stronger footsies with easy combos, on a gameplay level it is in every way evolution and improvement over SFIV...then we get to everything else.
Rocky servers at launch, terrible/non-existent learning tools, messy rollback netcode and perhaps worst of all: overpriced DLC to a game feeling incomplete and fight money being a terribly deflated currency until the addition of daily challenges which even then make it difficult to get every character for regular players. This isn't even to mention the abysmal single player offerings and mediocre story mode. The real insult of SFV is that was an early access game sold as a $60 AAA game and you have to buy the rest of it which totals up to over the price of the game. Capcom talked about SFV as a platform with no "Super" or "Ultra" edition, purely digital content and upgrades. But right now, I'd prefer bigger additions at a reasonable price. Super Street Fighter IV was $40 when it came out and had 10 additional characters and I believe 5-6 stages. Compare with SFV's $30 Season Pass which offers 6 new characters...oh and one extra costume for those 6 characters. Perhaps there is some blame on my part for thinking Capcom wouldn't fuck this up. I gave them some rope and they decided to hang everyone with it including themselves, actually, especially themselves!
I did mostly enjoy my time with SFV, I really like Alex (despite his terrible redesign) and Juri. I might give SFV another shot if it ever gives a complete DLC pack but as of right, Street Fighter V is undoubtedly my most disappointing game of 2016. I'm gonna go back to some more Garou.
~6~
This is a game I need to get back to desperately...but I feel like it might be a while. It's anime as fuck and I love it.
~5~
Outstanding visuals and soundtrack. Good feeling combat. Very interesting purely visual story dealing. That opening cutscene is dope.
~4~
Yes, I want more.
~3~
Rock solid evolution of Dark Souls mechanics. Mixed feelings on the lore and story. Abyss Watchers and Nameless King are two of the best Souls bosses ever. Nameless King is dope. Soul of Cinder is an incredibly strong send off for the series. The return of fantastic level design and art direction.
~2~
Amazing score and sound design, incredibly strong art direction lighting. It's a Team Ico game so really all of that goes without saying. And at the risk of creating unreasonably high expectations for those reading this, it has an incredibly thrilling conclusion that rivals Shadow of the Colossus. It's another game I want to return to. No one makes worlds like Team Ico and each one of their games' worlds have endlessly fascinated me. What does society look like? What is the history of this place? Was it always used for these purposes? The Last Guardian is a lot more straight forward and open with its storytelling but nevertheless it is loaded with mysteries. I have a feeling my opinion of this game will only get more positive over time. The implementation of Trico is unlike anything else in video games. Fumito Ueda did it again. I really hope his next game doesn't take 7 years to come out.
~1~
I am as shocked as you are that this thing is here. From Versus XIII looking like the wrong kind of anime bullshit to the Platinum demo I played months back, I was not particularly excited for Final Fantasy XV. Final Fantasy has always been a series that I've wanted to enjoy more but for one reason or another, I never really got into them to consider myself a fan. I like FFVII and FFXII a lot, I played a fair bit of FFVIII before losing interest and I played way too much FFXIII to admit. So, colour me curious when I started hearing positive buzz around FFXV. The resounding opinion of strong characters was kind of a shocker considering the cast of FFXIII and that the FFXV cast looks like a 90s boy band. I slowly found myself getting incredibly interested by this game to the point where I watched the anime Square put out and Kingsglaive before moving onto playing FFXV.
My initial dislike of the mix of modern technology and magic faded into affection. My judgment of the main cast as a shallow boy band switched to a sense of familiarity and friendship as these people act like...actual people and friends! And my view of Noctis as a Sasuke-type angsty teen anime protagonist happily proved me wrong. Final Fantasy games have a tendency to open pretty strong, I think about the bombing mission and opening FMV of Final Fantasy VII and even the train sequence and intersecting character stories of FFXIII starts that game on a misleadingly good foot. I'd make the argument FFXV has the strongest opening. Between the crazy flash forward and pushing your broken car down a highway with your bros as Stand By Me covered by Florence and the Machine, FFXV's introduction absolutely nails the tone of you and your closest friends up against the odds, big and small. I absolutely adore this opening and it has stuck with me.
I was pleasantly surprised that Noctis isn't the angsty teen that the Versus XIII trailers suggested (and I bet if this game was still “Versus XIII” he would have been exactly that), he's instead just kind of a lazy, aloof weirdo who really likes fishing. He's a prince who hasn't really had to work for anything in his life. The first thing Cid says to Noct, and I paraphrase here “You look just like the King with all the dignity kicked out of him” is such a great summary of Noctis's character. The focus put more on the characters of the story rather than the events themselves is one of the smartest moves and despite having yet to finish the game, I feel it pays off immensely. The dynamic between the four is rock solid. You have big brother Gladiolus, who's around to kick your ass (for your own good) and make sure you don't get in too over your head. There's Ignis, the Mom of the group, prim and proper, there's a great little moment with him teaching Noctis how to make a stew. And then Prompto, who's definitely the kid of the group with all the enthusiasm and insecurities that come with that.
And all of this isn't even getting into the great combat system and beautiful world to explore. Every time I pick up FFXV, it's incredibly hard for me to put it down which is ironically led to me not playing a few nights because I knew I wouldn't have the time with it that I'd want. It's a game I want to absorb myself into and go onto this adventure with these four friends. It's a game that reminds me what a fantastic JRPG feels like. It's a game, that despite all previously conceived notions of mediocrity, had me loving it from moment one. Final Fantasy XV is my 2016 Game of the Year.
