What is your GOTY?... that wasn't released this year?

Weirdly enough, Metal Gear Solid V.

I had thought of replaying a bit of it (just on my finished save file on PC) a few months back but never did. Then it was the PS+ free game so I downloaded it, and slogged through the hospital bit so it would just be available to play whenever I felt like it.

It turns out I feel like playing it a lot. I've probably played through 2/3rds of the campaign again and a fair number of side ops. It's such a solid game mechanically that it is still a ton of fun even though I've seen almost all of it before.

I'll probably have a lot more old games to judge for this category soon since I'm going back to school and thus am going to be a poor student again. It'll be PS+ stuff and my Steam backlog for the next year or two. And stuff on Switch.

For me it's Spleunky. When I first got the game on Steam I played it but kind of bounced off of it because I didn't really get it. This year I decided to give it another chance and I was hooked. I'm completely fascinated by the way all of the objects interact with each other and how deep the game really is. I even went as far as picking up Derek Yu's book on the game. With that being said I am terrible at this game but I absolutely love it.

Sorry to hear about some of the adversity you have faced this year. I know it doesn't really mean much coming from some random anonymous voice over the internet but I hope everything works out for you and that whatever depression it is that you are going through that you beat it. As cheesy as this sounds I'm rooting for you and I believe that you can.

-GAMERS SUPPORT GAMERS NINJA APPROVED-

@hippie_genocide:

Wolfenstein the new colossus is mine as well. i got all the way to the final phase of the last boss fight on the harder difficulty and had to drop it down to default to finish it out.... :)

Still playing Rocket League like it's new.

I bought Yakuza 0 last week and have completely fallen for it. It's just so . . . odd. The main story is incredibly serious and straight-faced, but everything in between is batshit insane and goofy as hell. I kinda love it.

XCOM 2 though it technically doesn't count since it had an expansion this year.

Also got back into Fallout 4 and for some reason I dislike it far less than before. I was quite disappointed by it when it launched, after installing a bunch of mods I thought it was pretty great but I fell off regardless because of other releases. It seems to click with me a lot better now for some reason. Maybe it is just one of those mood things.

Just finished Talos Principle and its Gehenna DLC and had a really joyful time. Can't remember a puzzle game being as fun as that.

Killing Floor 2 has been teaching me that maybe I can like zombie games again.

It’s a good video game.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

I have a really hard time defining what is a contender for game of the year. I try to play it by hear and go for enjoyment.

I played trough Telltale's The Walking Dead in about 3 sittings last week. I was thoroughly impressed. I also played a lot of 20XX, which technically came out of Early Access this year. I discovered Warframe a few months back and it has been consuming quite a few evenings. I also fell in love with Darkest Dungeon. Absolutely brutal, yet I keep coming back to it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't really have a game of the year. To me, so many games would deserve to claim that mantle.

I've been lax on the whole "playing older games for the first" thing this year. I did play through every single Bungie Halo game cooperatively with my brother-in-law, which was a fun experience. I hadn't ever played through the campaigns for Halo 1, ODST, or Reach before, so half of our little adventure was new to me. However, playing them back-to-back just kind of betrays how similar all of those games are to one another, and while there's certainly a progression from Halo: Combat Evolved (which feels incredibly slow compared to modern shooters) to Halo Reach (which finally added a sprint button) they all kind of congeal together in my memory even if I could separate which sequence was from which game if I thought about it for a sec. That's both a testament to how good Halo was out of the gate (even if Combat Evolved is a little rough in spots, especially in its level design) and how few risks were taken with that formula.

I also played Vanquish, which I enjoyed but almost forgot I played this year before I looked at my list, and a couple of visual novels (including Steins;Gate and Danganronpa) that I really enjoyed but barely consider to be video games. Honestly the game that surprised me this year was Ninja Gaiden Black, which I wrote a thing about last week, so if anything even comes close to getting a hypothetical "Best game of 2017 that I didn't play in 2017" award, it would probably be that.

Witcher 3. I played the game again plus the DLC which was included in the GOTY my wife bought me. That game is great but the DLC is INCREDIBLE! On the Xbox One X it runs at 60fps, it's my favorite RPG of all time.

The other game, which I just recently bought as part of the Black Friday sale and can't put down is Forza Horizon 3.

Undertale. The art of compelling gameplay has long been lost on the PC platform before Fox released this instant cult classic. It has been more than a decade since I couldn't put a game down before beating it.

Dragon Quest VII has been my go-to game for the past few months.

I really enjoyed Furi when I finally got around to it this past summer. I love the concept of boss-only games, so this totally hit that sweet spot for me, along with a great presentation (seriously, I can't get enough of that soundtrack). I really enjoyed the bosses themselves for the most part, but I'll admit that there were a few "Okay, let's reel it in" moments. It's not the worst thing I've dealt with, but that final boss kinda sucked. All in all, a really cool action game.

What probably takes the cake though is Silent Hill 2. Even though I'd had the majority of the plot spoiled for me, it's been one of those games I felt I like I needed to play someday. And man, there is a reason that game is so well regarded. I have issues with the gameplay, it's far too easy overall, which makes the combat rarely feel threatening. Most of the scares come from the plot and the raw atmosphere. Thankfully, those two more than make up for the mediocre gameplay. The sound and visual design of SH2 are absolutely incredible to this day, especially with the PS2 original where the unique effects work best. If you're a fan of the horror genre and somehow have missed this one, I can't recommend it enough.

Of course, if it were to be a game I replayed, it'd easily be Persona 4 Golden. I enjoyed it a fair amount when I first played it two years ago, but since I had so much spoiled for me, it didn't have quite the same impact P3 did. However, I did an entire playthrough over the summer with two friends who knew nothing about it, and seeing them discover the world and mystery of Inaba was really something magical. Don't get me wrong, I liked P4G a real lot when I first played it, but this playthrough really cemented that I love that game.

The Witcher 3. Playing it for the first time, I have about 86 hours played and still loving it.

My old game of the year is this really obscure hidden gem for NES called “Mega Man 2”

YES! on so many levels.

-SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT... MEGA MAN! NINJA APPROVED-

Would have to agree with you there. What makes that game so creepy is everything going around you (the music, the atmosphere, the look of your surroundings.). It's not uncommon to be completely freaked out just walking down an empty corridor with no enemies in sight.

Very few games can pull of a feat such as that but then again there's a reason Silent Hill 2 stands out as one of the best examples of horror in a videogame ever.

-NIGHTMARES 4 LIFE NINJA APPROVED-

Severed.

Played it on Wii U, I kinda grew to adore it after a while based on how unique a game it is compared to the sorts of things I usually play. Though it lost a bit of that shine in the middle where it felt like it was stretching its mechanics a bit thin (even though the game isn't that long the sidequests require a lot of backtracking and the tweaks they implemented in the combat about 3/5ths of the way in I found more tedious than interesting), it rebounded towards the end, and the highs were really really high.

Runner up would be Sleeping Dogs. I had almost as much fun finally playing this game myself as I did watching Vinny play it for quick looks, which is to say I had a lot of fun! But the novelty of Severed gives it a slight edge for me even though I found Sleeping Dogs more consistently fun throughout.

GTA Online

I'd tried many times in the past to enjoy more than just the outlandish races, but always bounced off it. This time, I persevered with it and broke through to really enjoying it, but it definitely helped that I had a group of friends along for it. We've now played through all the heists, have our own businesses on the go, and I've just made enough money to get the new Doomsday Heist stuff started.

Bioshock Infinite

I played it for the first time. I didn't really know much about it outside the setting. I remember hearing a lot of good things and then later a lot of bad things. I really liked it. Great story and characters. I thought the combat was a lot of fun. I was constantly switching vigors and there was a surprising amount of weapon variety. The skyrail and tear systems were fantastic. Also, they nailed the ending. The first Bioshock had the big reveal, but then kept going and had a mediocre ending with a bad boss fight. But in Infinite it was just big reveal and bam ending. The story didn't get bogged down by a bad after-reveal boss fight or long final combat sequence that I think too many games go for.

I also played through both Burial at Sea episodes. The first was good, but man was the second great. Playing as Elizabeth was a completely different experience and I was surprised by how well it worked. The story was also very good.

I LOVED Witcher 3 and need to dive back in for those DLCs.

There were a handful of non-2016 games I really sunk some time i to this year; Overwatch, The Flame in the Flood, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time, and Oxenfree.

The Flame in the Flood...something about that game...the setting, the music, the experience. I adore it.

I love the way the game feels, I love the sense of discovery and the outdoors. It's a game that makes me want to backpack and raft more of New England...maybe in the spring...

I mean Rocket League, CS:GO and LoL are still being played regularly on the weekends, so all three of them are games that I would nominate. Especially due to the continued development. Take a break from LoL or CS:GO and you're bound to find some new crazy updates in a few months, and Rocket League just can't stop making content.

Didn't really have one until about a week ago, I tend to play stuff closer to release and try not to let the backlog get out of hand. But!

Warframe.

I think I am a little bit in love. It could be just the honeymoon phase, but fuck it right at this very moment I am overjoyed to have finally given it a chance.

Grim dawn and Xcom 2

Although both got expansions this year so not sure they count

Also Yakuza 2 for ps2, finally got through that this year and loved it. Yakuza 1 was great but it's flaws didn't really hold up to todays standards, 2 is pretty much in line with the newer games(up to 4 anyway as i haven't played 0 and 5 yet)

I know I'm probably sticking my neck out with this one (-Hey, Ninja. When has that ever stopped you before?-) but I personally loved my time with Bioshock Infinite and thought it was a much better overall experience than the previous 2 installments.

I think the main reason for my adoration was the emphasis on story and narrative present throughout the journey. While the first 2 games (mostly the first.) had a great concept I felt they fell short in terms of characterization and plot. The same couldn't be said IMO for Infinite. During my time in "Columbia" I grew to actually care about the characters I interacted with (as well as myself.) and I never once felt that I was just some random nameless Avatar running around in yet another FPS game.

I was also reluctant at first with the idea of an A.I companion (Elizabeth.) but she actually helped with the immersion into Infinite's world rather than take away from it like many other game AI's do.

I never did get around to playing the DLC but hearing your testimony (especially about Burial at Sea.) might just be the incentive I need to revisit Columbia/Rapture.

-THERE'S ALWAYS A LIGHTHOUSE, A MAN, AND A... VIDEOGAME NINJA APPROVED-

Probably Mario & Luigi DreamTeam (or whatever its actually called). The written dialog is excellent and I love the fake Italien the brothers employ. The combat sometimes drags and the A/B jump split is a tiresome mechanic outside of the fights, but overall I am having a really good time with it.

Though I also recently started playing Bulletstorm for the first time and that game ... hoo boy.

Phantasy star 4. Little known RPG of the snes era that just absolutely rocked. Travel between different planets, cool plot, awesome end boss area, combination skill/attacks.

Im not sure if this counts but Skyrim VR, it's really fun.

Far Cry 2.

Was keen on revisiting it in a post breath of the wild world and boy, after applying a couple of mods it really holds up.

The world has an incredible sense of place and is still impressively reactive. The fire really does spread and the way leaves and trees rustle after a grenade goes off looks great.

I'm also a fan how "difficult" the game can be, there's always that sense of danger and you will never really have mastered the world around you.

I'd also say that it's a game which design makes more sense now rather than then. Far Cry 2 feels like a more accessable title in a post survival/ breath of the wild / dark souls environment.

This year saw me shift towards gaming with a non-gamer significant other. I spent more time with games that I otherwise wouldn't have spent much time with at all. The best of these, and probably my favorite gaming experience of the year, was burning through Kirby's Dream Land 2 over the course of a weekend. Pure bliss.