There were A LOT of really wonderful video games released this year, making getting this list together more difficult than normal. I had to make cuts that I didn't like and more so than in previous years, I have a rather sizeable list of games I haven't had a chance to start, let alone finish.

So here are the best 10 games that were released in 2016:

10. Enter the Gungeon

I’m going to be upfront and honest with everyone, I haven’t actually beaten Enter the Gungeon. I got to the last boss. Once. In co-op. This rogue-like twin stick shooter is hard. It’s also a lot of fun, with tight controls, good weapons, and great art design. Runs can take 30-45 minutes but it still has that “one more run” draw that games like this need.

9. Forza Horizon 3

Forza Horizon 3 looks like just another Horizon game, and in some regards it is, but it’s also the best the series has ever been. Playground Game’s condensed version of Australia (it’s not as condensed as The Crew’s gloriously messed up US but I’m sure natives notice) is stunning in HDR and the miles of open road and open countryside are a blast to tear across. The game also gets credit for actually making me want to listen to electronica.

8. Hitman

The new Hitman is the true sequel to Blood Money that I’ve been waiting for since 2006. The maps are so packed full of ways to cleverly eliminate targets that I’m sure I still haven’t seen everything that the even first level has to offer. Once, I poisoned a guy’s hookah, followed him into a bathroom, and drowned him in the toilet he was vomiting into. Another time I dropped one target’s body out of a window onto the second target. The game’s release structure worked to its advantage, something that can’t be said for any other episodic game I can think of, letting the intricacy and brilliance of the level design really sink in.

7. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

A Persona game in everything but name, TMS#FE managed to pull me in and stick around in a way that no JRPG has done since, well the last Persona. The game has an amazing soundtrack with a bunch of original songs, a very well localized script, fun characters, and style for days.

6. Final Fantasy XV

The plot makes very little sense for the first half of the game and not that much more once you hit the second half. Most quests amount to little more than fetching various items for NPCs. The game doesn’t run particularly well. On the surface it seems like FFXV should be a total mess of a game but there’s something almost indescribable in its allure. The combat seems thin at first but experimenting with the different weapon types slowly reveals a combo-system that lends to exciting and stunningly animated encounters. The game makes you care about Noctis and his three best friends in a way that can’t be said for a single character in FFXIII and its two sequels. After finishing the game all I wanted to do was spend a few more days with Gladiolus, Prompto, and Ignis.

5. The Witness

The Witness is unforgiving in a way that very few games are. There are no tutorials, only puzzles that teach you exactly what you need to know. You either learn the rules of each type of puzzle in the game or you hit a wall. I have a small notebook that was key to making my way across the island of The Witness. It looks like the scribblings of a madman but trust me, if you’ve played the game, if you’ve conquered the island, it all makes sense.

4. Picross 3D: Round 2

A complete 180 from The Witness, Picross 3D: Round 2 gives you very explicit instructions and has a small number of simple rules. There’s a purity to the process of deducing the correct blocks to destroy and the correct blocks to keep that lets you get lost in the 350+ puzzles on offer. After completing everything the game has to offer I would instantly buy any new puzzles Nintendo put on the eShop, if only they would wise up and do it.

3. Overwatch

It takes a lot of work to make a Team Fortress 2-style, class based FPS, and instead of balancing, say 5 classes, going and making over 20 characters. Blizzard then went a step forward and infused each and every hero with a unique personality and look. Overwatch oozes personality on top of being a first rate shooter that’s fun both casually and competitively. There’s a good reason the game has built an intense following this year. Blizzard also deserves credit for recently outing Tracer, the game’s cover character and the closest thing it has to a mascot, as lesbian. LGBTQ representation matters and it’s awesome to see that manifest in an already awesome game.

2. DOOM

I have spent a large portion of 2016 preaching the gospel of DOOM. It looked like Bethesda was sending the game out to die. It had been in development for what seem like an eternity, the multiplayer beta wasn’t very good, and they weren’t sending out review copies. After all of the signs pointed towards a total disaster it turns out that DOOM is better than anyone could have imagined. The Glory Kill system, which looked liked boring QTEs before release, turned out to be a brilliant design decision. In concert with a swath of satisfying weapons, the perk system lets you approached the game’s open and complex combat encounters just how you want to. My personal favorite has to be the ability to have infinite ammo when you have sufficient armor combined with another perk that gives you armor for every Glory Kill. The game pays winking homage to its predecessors, recognizing what made them great while successfully evolving the series. Somehow, 23 years after it launched first-person shooters into the forefront of gaming, DOOM is at the top of the genre again.

1. Titanfall 2

After finishing the World Factory mission of Titanfall 2’s campaign I told a friend that it would go down as one of the best levels in modern FPS history. By the time I finished the full game that level was the THIRD best in the game. Nothing else released this year feels as good as moving in Titanfall 2. The ease of transferring from sprint to wallrun to slide and back to sprinting is seamless and when you get a good movement chain going it feels like flying. Much like DOOM, the campaign feels like an absurd power-fantasy but while DOOM does one thing extremely well, Titanfall 2 continuously introduces new ideas and twists to its gameplay. Moment after moment left me grinning like an idiot or laughing at what a blast I was having. Outside of the amazing campaign Respawn has refined and tweaked multiplayer in smart ways that have made an already great game better. The combination of campaign and killer multiplayer is what really moves Titanfall past DOOM and makes it the best game of 2016.

This year’s list was the hardest to write in recent memory. Unlike 2014 where I struggled to come up with 10 games I was really passionate about, the past 12 months have seen a lot of titles that I’m genuinely sad to leave off the list. When it came down to filling the very final slot it took me a long time to figure out what was going to make the cut. What I ended up with is a mix of sequels and new games that were fun, funny, touching, thought-provoking, and in the case of my game of the year, all of the above.

The List!

10. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

Ubisoft bounced back from the garbage fire that was Assassin’s Creed: Unity with what is easily the best entry in the series since AC2. Gameplay refinements abound and the grappling hook is the single best addition to the series outside of the Jackdaw in ACIV: Black Flag. The development team even managed to create an incredibly likeable cast of characters, something they’ve failed to do again and again since Ezio Auditore and his crew of Italian compatriots. Even the side missions, especially solving spooky ghost mysteries with Charles Dickens, were particularly engaging. Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate has gotten the series back on track (train pun intended).

9. Rocket League

What’s there to say about Rocket League? It’s a simple game; just a handful of players, a ball, and rocket-powered cars topped with silly hats. I don’t particularly care about soccer in real or video game format but Rocket League still managed to draw me in match after match. And that’s really all I have to say about the game. Oh, except that my car poops money when I boost, there is that.

8. Bloodborne

Bloodborne has that special something that Hidetaka Miyazaki brings to the From Software games he directs. It’s a combination of great art direction, smart combat encounters, fiendish difficulty, and a world that feels lived-in. There’s an allure to the game that kept me coming back even after I beat it, going even as far as earning the platinum trophy. The speedier combat sets Bloodborne apart from the Souls series and the risk/reward system centered around striking enemies back after they hit you was a brilliant addition.

7. Heroes of the Storm

I’ve always wanted to try a MOBA but the barrier to entry for DOTA and League of Legends seemed too daunting. After watching Dan Ryckert play and enjoy Heroes of the Storm I thought maybe I had find the MOBA that was right for me. One week and fifty matches later I was sure I had. Deep yet accessible to new players, Heroes of the Storm is fun, challenging, and addictive all at the same time. If this is what Blizzard does with MOBAs I can’t wait to get my hands on Overwatch and see what magic they work on class-based shooters.

6. Super Mario Maker

Who would have thought designing good Mario courses would be really difficult? It’s almost like there’s a reason you can’t find a 2D platformer that tops the series. Despite that, Super Mario Maker has allowed players to create wonders and monstrosities that Nintendo’s designers never could have dreamed of. Everytime I turn the game on there’s a seemingly infinite number of new levels to tackle and Nintendo has been providing a steady stream of new parts to build with. The expansive toolset makes the possibilities mindboggling. Using everything at your disposal to craft a level specifically for one of your friends is almost as fun as watching them bang their head against it for hours as you laugh at them.

5. Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider takes the already solid foundation from Crystal Dynamic’s 2013 reboot and improves upon it in every conceivable way. This is a larger, better playing game, with deeper gameplay systems, visual splendor, a more engaging plot, and a well developed cast of characters led by a fantastic performance from Camilla Luddington. The game balances exciting set-piece action with smart puzzles to make a much more rounded package than the last title in the series.

4. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I did not play The Witcher. I tried playing The Witcher 2 but couldn’t get into it. I was going to completely skip The Witcher 3. Not doing so is probably one of the best decisions I made in 2015. CD Projekt Red’s massive RPG held me in its grasp for 90 hours and only let go long enough to make me wait for the first of two expansions to be released. Smart writing and combat sit atop some of the best open world RPG design ever done. Even the smallest side-quests feel like fleshed out stories rather than typical filler content. Not to mention the fact that The Bloody Baron questline might be of the RPG all-time greats.

3. Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

It’s a testament to how well MGSV plays that I feel comfortable ranking it this high despite the slapdash second act and half-baked plot. MGSV is a revolution in open-world gameplay design with a staggering number of ways to tackle missions. From a playability perspective, the tight controls alone could easily take The Phantom Pain to the top of the Metal Gear pile but when you factor in the buddy system, marking enemies, and the number of toys you get to play with, the game captures the crown with ease. All of this makes it even more of a shame that the Konami-Kojima falling out has all but guaranteed we won’t see a Metal Gear game of this caliber again.

2. Undertale

Undertale is funny, charming, clever, heartwarming, determination-filling, and full of really smart and really dumb (in a good way) jokes. A game that simultaneously takes it’s battle system cues from Wario Ware and bullet-hell shooters, Toby Fox’s RPG is well deserving of the praise that has been heaped upon it by players and critics. Like Bloodborne and MGSV this is another game that I kept coming back to after the credits had rolled. The style of humor may not be for everyone but if you’re one of the people that this game appeals to it’s impossible not to fall in love with it.

1. Life is Strange

It’s hard to explain why Life is Strange was so impactful without spoiling some of the game’s best and most heart-wrenching moments. Suffice to say no game (except maybe Season 1 of Telltale’s The Walking Dead) has forced me to make more meaningful decisions that left me wondering if I was doing the even remotely right thing. The story weaves a large cast together that you really get to know as the game’s 5 episodes unfold, making every change to their lives substantial. Unraveling the overarching mystery is engrossing but the core friendship between Max Caulfield and Chloe Price (played to perfection by Ashly Burch) is what Life is Strange is really about; an amazing portrait of being an awkward teenager, unsure of yourself, trying to navigate the minefield of high school life. So many moments in this game spoke to me on a personal level and when it came to finalizing this list of 10 excellent games, I couldn’t put Life is Strange anywhere but at the top.

Miscellaneous Awards! (AKA I Can’t Not Mention These Games)

“Best” Vocal Track - Anything from Xenoblade Chronicles X

The orchestrated music in Xenoblade Chronicles X is excellent but listen to this.

Actual Best Vocal Track - “O Death” from Until Dawn

Until Dawn’s late opening credits do an even better job of setting the mood than the opening gameplay segment. Take a listen and think about how to save those teens (or not).

Game That Should Be in the Top 10 But Is Technically DLC - Destiny: The Taken King

The Taken King and Destiny 2.0 in general took the game from a recommendation with major caveats to a solid “You should play this.” The excellent core shooting is still intact but the progression in Destiny 2.0 is almost unrecognizable from the base game. Between weaving the first two DLC packs into where they logically fit in the main story and improving just about everything with The Taken King, Bungie is on the right track.

Best Story (I Think?) - Puyo Puyo Tetris

I have no idea what’s going on in this game, it’s all in Japanese. There’s aliens? And they’re trying to stop an invasion of Puyos via Tetris? What’s up with the dog doctor? One of the kids looks like a vampire?

Game That Would Make This List if I Was Finished It - Xenoblade Chronicles X

This is a hell of an RPG but I’m only 24 hours into it and don’t even have my giant robot yet. Things could somehow go completely off the rails before I’m done but barring that Xenoblade Chronicles X is definitely in the Top 10.

Best MOBA-fication of a Game - Halo 5: Guardians

Warzone mode is the best thing to happen to Halo multiplayer since Xbox Live. It combines the great gunplay of Halo with the addictive leveling of a MOBA. The game didn’t quite make the Top 10 due to stiff competition but this year I played more Warzone than any other multiplayer mode outside of Heroes of the Storm.

Dopest Basketball Court Builder (Inspired by Austin Walker) - Fallout 4

You should check out my Fallout 4 base. It has a dope basketball court, a jazz club, a power armor garage, and a brahmin that won’t stop spawning on the roof of my house.

Game I Wish I Could Play (Powered By AMD) - Just Cause 3

I built my first gaming PC this year and it’s a beast. I want to play Just Cause 3 but when I boot the game most of the ground is missing because I’m on an AMD GPU. This is why consoles will continue to be a thing.

I Like the Term Metroidvania and You Can’t Stop Me From Using It Award - Ori and the Blind Forest

A gorgeous, tightly controlled, well designed Metroidvania.

Special Award for Kind of Making Zombie Games Cool Again - Dying Light

It’s like Dead Island but with really cool/fun parkour. A great game that I’m afraid is getting forgotten at the end of year because of how early it came out.

Old Game of The Year - Grim Fandango: Remastered

Sure, it’s an adventure-ass adventure game, but the setting and writing are brilliant. I had never played it before and now it’s easy to see why it’s a beloved game.

The End!

And there you have it. 2015 was an amazing year for games and here’s hoping 2016 can top it.

I never met Ryan Davis. With the exception of a week's vacation a decade ago I never even spent time in the state he called home. Yet when the news of his passing came across my Twitter feed yesterday it felt like the air went out of the room. I sat at my desk in absolute shock and felt like I had lost a friend.

Via this weird, wonderful thing called GiantBomb I had been allowed glimpses of a funny, intelligent, joyful man and though I never directly interacted with him he made my day brighter on a regular basis. Whether it was a live show, the Bombcast or a simple tweet Ryan Davis and the rest of the Giantbomb crew snuck into my life. I could say to a friend, "I saw Ryan tweeted..." and they'd know exactly who I meant. I like to think that Ryan Davis had many, many more friends then he ever could have met.

I will never be able to play Chrono Trigger without naming my character Brono. I will imagine that beneath every sombrero is a tinier sombrero. I will never be able to listen to another Bombcast without hearing his voice echo in my head.

I never met Ryan Davis and I won't say I knew him as his friends and family did, but I will miss him. Rest in piece Ryan.

Earlier today President Obama signed 23 executive orders in an effort to curb gun violence in the United States. The President has also stated that he will circumvent a 15 year-old ban on CDC-based research regarding gun violence.

Whenever a tragedy like the shootings in Sandy Hook, CT occurs the debate regarding any possible link between video games and real life violence is reignited. The new research ordered by the president is sure to relate to the video game industry.

While any link between virtual and real violence is tenuous at best it’s easy to see why the public is quick to view gaming in a negative light. Yesterday Deep Silver announced the special ‘Zombie Bait’ edition of the upcoming sequel Dead Island: Riptide. Included in this EU/Australia exclusive edition is a blood-soaked, bikini-clad torso with the head and arms severed.

The reaction from gaming journalists was almost universally negative. Patrick Klepek of GiantBomb wrote, “…this is over the line, and Deep Silver should have known better.”

Kotaku author Jason Schreier posted, “Really though, this is disgusting. It's the sort of marketing misstep that can make it feel really embarrassing to like video games.”

And it is an embarrassment. Deep Silver quickly issued an apology but has yet to state if they will go ahead with releasing this edition of the game. An apology is warranted and one has to ask how a misstep like this happens in the first place. How did no one in the marketing department speak up to say, “Hey, this could make us look really bad.” Someone at Deep Silver must have known this would be offensive, the box even states it contains what could be considered offensive material, and yet they still went through with it.

This isn’t the only recent incident of video game marketing going terribly wrong. In advance of Medal of Honor: Warfighter’s release last year EA partnered with gun manufacturers to promote weapons featured in Medal of Honor. Not digital weapons for the game; actual guns. One can argue the merits of gun ownership and the 2 Amendment ad nauseam but this was firmly tying a video game, albeit a mature-rated one, directly to the sales of real world weapons. After public outcry and negative coverage from major news sources such as The New York Times the promotion was terminated by EA.

How can the industry defend itself from accusations that it promotes actual violence when promotions like this exist? Not only do they border on, and sometimes cross, the line into offensive territory they do the industry as a whole absolutely no favors.

Recently video games have taken great strides in overcoming their image as mindless entertainment. Last year the Smithsonian American Art Museum celebrated the evolution of gaming and the Museum of Modern Art will open an exhibit of American games in March. Pride in seeing an industry that many of us have grown up with and find so much joy in recognized in such a way is wonderful. The Roger Ebert’s of the world who say gaming can never be an art form or the parents who chastise their children for wasting all of their time in front of ‘the Nintendo’ can be shown this as tangible proof that it’s something more.

Gamers don’t need that, we know what it is that makes video games special, but we can point to these highlights to help others begin to understand. And this understanding is what helps drive the industry forward. It’s what takes video games out of the basement and puts them in the living room where everyone can enjoy them together. But when crass promotions like what Deep Silver announced yesterday are created with the hope of earning our dollars gamers have to point to that as well. That has to be explained to those very same people that don’t understand our passion and see the offensive creations as all that gaming is.

The video game industry needs to look at things like that bloody, bikini-clad torso and ask itself, “Is this really what we want to be?”