Honorable Mentions here.

10. The King of Fighters XIV

There's some games you can immediately tell will be good, just from the main menu. Saints Row: The Third starts with one of the best title themes of all time, and turns out to be an incredible game. Hotline Miami does the same.

When I booted up The King of Fighters XIV and heard “Follow Me”, I knew great things would follow.

Even though I feel like an intermediate fighting game player, KOFXIV kicked my ass so hard that I felt like a beginner. I couldn't do supers consistently without botching inputs, and I couldn't remember important universal mechanics in time before my opponents stomped me into the dust.

But I didn't quit. I sat in training mode until I could do every super input by memory without dropping them. I did the Trials for my characters until I could go through them without a single restart.

The King of Fighters XIV's difficult timing and special commands brought me back to lab even though I claimed to not need it. And though I still suck at fighting games, every little improvement I made in this game felt like I was getting better at them. It was a fulfilling, enlightening experience all the way.

And “Follow Me” is the best song.

9. Final Fantasy XV

You guys are the best.

Parts of this game are terrible. The story is so poorly told that Square Enix created an anime series and CGI movie to explain what happens. There are major, unexpected gameplay shifts that play like they only got 50 percent of the polish the main game got. The majority of the quests are generic MMO-like “go kill 3 crabs” or “bring me 7 bear asses” chores that are completely forgettable.

And yet, I can't stop thinking about Final Fantasy XV. Squeenix failed many other things, but they nailed the main cast. Noctis, Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus are the most likable leads Final Fantasy has seen in a while. The writing of this game shines brightest in sidequests and travel times, because there is an absolutely massive amount of dialogue. These guys seem to have a unique response to every possible situation they get into.

Even in this bizarre timeframe where there are both flying cars and royal knights who wield swords, the cast of FFXV are regular dudes, motivated by ambitions and fears that we can all relate to.

I didn't love much of the gameplay, but the story of Noctis losing everything he loves and finding the strength to go on through his friends kept this game on my mind after the tearjerking post-credits scene.

8. Pony Island

Insert YOUR SOUL to continue.

Pony Island is not a colourful endless runner where you're a pony hopping over fences. Except when it is. It's not really a horror game, but it has plenty of unsettling moments where it appears your own computer is out to kill you.

So what is Pony Island? It's a series of progressively difficult timed puzzles that make you think critically. It's a mystery game where learning who you are and who the villain is changes your entire perception. It's a look at the anxiety and frustration game development can cause to even the most confident people.

By the time I got to the last major puzzle of Pony Island, I was amazed at how it took my natural response to stuff that happens in any game, and turned it into my weakness. I don't want to ruin it because this game has to be played to see just how clever it is.

Try to not shoot Jesus though. You'll get a game over.

7. Overwatch

CATCH PHRASE!

When this game was released, I was playing it nightly and certain it was a lock for my #1 Game of the Year spot.

Oops! Competitive Mode brought unparalleled levels of toxic players to every mode. The Summer Games event showed just how bad the “blind box” system for cosmetic unlockables can get. And even today, I despise the lottery system for loot boxes and how it consistently tempts you to spend money for lottery tickets.

Still, I cannot deny how enjoyable the core game is. I spend most of my time now in Arcade mode messing with the newly-added modes like Elimination, which is AWESOME for introducing a whole new meta, as 3v3 with no respawns requires very different compositions to 6v6. But even regular Quick Play is great. The game itself is full of positive reinforcement, rewarding you with medals and bonus XP for playing well even if you lose. It's easy and fast to pick up and play, and most matches still feel close close even when you're getting blown out.

I've got plenty of complaints about Overwatch, but I probably won't ever stop playing it. And even when I'm not playing it, I'll probably keep flicking through the massive amount of Overwatch memes I've got saved on my phone for a while. It's a powerful game. For memes.

6. Inside

I loved seeing the praise for Inside when it released this year. It was mostly “10/10, perfect game, I refuse to tell you anything about it”. And well...it's true. Playdead made a nearly perfect puzzle-platformer. It fixes the few problems Limbo had and even has a few “why has no one done this before?” moments.

You know when you pull a box to an edge, but you have to climb back up on that ledge to progress? No need to reset the room; the boy will just shift into the foreground and walk around it.

The game is confident in itself and the player when it comes to puzzles; there are no hint boxes or cheap deaths. If you think clearly, you can get through everything with minimal resets, but somehow the challenge is on the perfect level to keep your mind constantly working.

Talking about the visual setpieces also ruins some of the best parts of the game. But after the empowering, nauseating and oddly comical ending, I didn't want to play anything else for the rest of the night. All I could do is sit there and wonder about the bizarre sights in the world of Inside and what they represented in the game's world. I'm still thinking about it now, and I think that's the highest praise I can give to Inside. You won't forget it.

5. Teeny Titans

Evil Laugh: +4 Health. Heals the entire team. But it's an EVIL heal.

Teeny Titans was my go-to mobile game when I had a few minutes to kill. Like waiting in line at a bank, or during load screens for Final Fantasy XV.

This game plays like a mashup of Pokemon and Paper Mario, developed by a team who recognizes what made both of those games great.

The massive amount of figurines to collect inspired the “catch em all” fever I used to have with Pokemon, and the turn-based combat was consistently challenging as you have to manage your attacks based on a strict timer and elemental weaknesses.

This is one of the best licensed games I've played, full of the self-referential humor of Teen Titans GO! Including my favorite part: making fun of people who hate GO! and wish the old Teen Titans show would come back.

4. Firewatch

“What happens when a controlled burn gets out of control?”

“Someone gets fired.”

This game has the best acting I've ever heard, and it's all through two people speaking through a walkie talkie. Henry and Delilah don't speak like most video game characters: they're not immune to stammering, putting emphasis on the wrong syllables or dropping cluster F-bombs when frustrated. I enjoyed taking walks through the forest just to find new items so these two could chat about it more, building up their relationship and my perception of them at the same time.

The game's pacing is excellent, organically building sympathy for two flawed characters before the real plot kicks in and you see how they react under duress. Firewatch doesn't point the player toward any clear message or moral to learn.

Firewatch understands that people mess up and make poor choices, even if they have the best intentions in mind. It doesn't frame the protagonist as totally wrong for the choices he made. It has a level of nuance rarely seen in game stories, and encourages you to take your time and absorb everything in a huge, gorgeous environment. It's one of the few games I'd describe as “serene”, even when the world literally burns around you.

3. DOOM

Demonic presence at unsafe levels.

I have no reference point for the DOOM series, having played none of the previous titles and sleeping through the live-action movie.

But I know a great shooter when I play one, and the DOOM campaign is one of the greatest. When you're locked in a room full of demons, it's arena combat at its finest. Manage dodging projectiles and swapping to the most effective tool to most effectively blow something's face off. You are ALWAYS RUNNING in fights because standing still is death. Every combat scenario is exciting no matter how often I replay it.

Then, there's quieter sections where you explore some of the best-designed levels in a shooter. They're filled to the brim with secret levels, bonus items to pick up, and grimly hilarious Codex entries that enrich the world with self-aware humor. The combat is great, but exploring the levels for secrets is what kept me booting up DOOM long after I finished the story.

Finally, Mick Gordon is a genius and every soundtrack he touches turns to gold.

2. Titanfall 2

The human concept of love requires admiration, attraction, devotion, and respect. Conclusion: I am 50% in love.

I want to play Titanfall 2 right now. Even after the finishing the campaign and spending several weekends doing nothing but, I wish I was playing Titanfall 2 right now.

The feeling of bounding between wall runs, diving into open windows to avoid fire, and sliding on your knees at 50 MPH is comparable only to Vanquish, the OTHER best shooter of all time. Titanfall 2 is the Vanquish 2 we deserved but never got.

The campaign is full of action movie cliches and a bizarre ending that tries to get a nostalgic pop from characters you barely remember. And it's one of the best first-person shooter campaigns around. They introduce game-changing mechanics to use IN ONE LEVEL and throw them away.

It brought us the best “press button to do thing” prompt this year, and that's not even the coolest moment in the game.

The kits you can build online can drastically change your gameplay, but even without them the core of dashing along buildings and sliding is so fun that I wish I was playing it right now.

Oh, and the developers are so confident in how good their game is that they just give away new maps and weapons for free. They're pretty cool.

I'd go play this game right now if I could. But I have one more game to mention.

1. Furi

Hundreds of them, against you. Was that fair?

It is not fair to develop a game specifically targeted to me in hopes of getting on the top of my Game of the Year list. But The Game Bakers did it, and here we are. Furi is the best game I played in 2016.

I love the unique challenge of character action games. You can usually progress through the game just by using the base mechanics. But the real fun and challenge is when you optimize what you are given to complete the game with style and speed. Furi seems simplistic compared to Platinum's games at first, but just like those games they give you every tool you need to win fights with style and speed.

All you have to do it get good enough to use the tools.

There are rarely any low-level grunts to fight, just a series of wildly-different boss battles with long walks between them. And all of the battles are fantastic. It's a desperate struggle between avoiding waves of bullets and nimble slashes, while trying to find any opening to counterattack.

While it's possible to mash away at square to take what damage you can, the game gives you the tools to optimize your damage and challenges you to be skillful enough to execute. You could shoot 10 small bullets or time one powerful charge shot. You could get 2-3 slashes during a damage phase, or perfectly time a charged slash that will leave you completely vulnerable if you miss.

The bosses are a level in themselves, constantly adding new attacks, altering the environment and seeing if you remember how to counter moves they did earlier. It's the world's fastest and deadliest pop quiz.

And like every great character action game, there is a parry. You can gain health if you block properly, or you can take a ton of damage that you could have just stepped away from.

In another blatant attempt to pander to me, Furi also has the best soundtrack of the year, and each boss track transitions to an intense crescendo as the boss loses health and switches tactics. This is a game that is incomplete if you do not have the speakers up to at least 50 percent.

They knew my all of my weaknesses: great character action, excellent combat design, and fantastic music. They mercilessly perfected all of them into one game package.

So congratulations to Furi for being “The Game PerfidiousSinn Would Obviously Choose For Game Of The Year”.

And also, the best game of 2016. You earned it.