Welcome to day 3 of my personal Game of the Year celebration. On the list today, best voice acting performance, best new character, best gameplay, and finally best story. It goes without saying that many things WILL be spoiled today. With that being said, let's get down to it,

Day 1

Day 2

Day 4

Day 5

Best performance:

As the graphical fidelity of games increases, the look of characters will also increase. While characters may look realistic, they still need a great performance to truly bring them to life.

• Cissy Jones as Delilah in Firewatch
• Rich Sommer as Henry in Firewatch
• Laura Bailey as Nadine in Uncharted 4
• Emily Rose as Elena Fisher in Uncharted 4
• Troy Baker as Samuel Drake in Uncharted 4
• Warren Kole as Rafe Adler in Uncharted 4
• Erin Yvette as Alex in Oxenfree
• Gary Busey as Gary Busey in Hitman
• Gordon Greene as Father James Ballard in Mafia 3
• Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay in Mafia 3
• Nolan North as Dr. Richtofen in Black Ops 3 DLC
• Nolan North as Remy Duvall in Mafia 3
• Nolan North as Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4

Honorable Mention:

Gary Busey as Gary Busey in Hitman: Yes it is actually Gary Busey and yes it is as great as it sounds.

Runners Up:

Cissy Jones as Delilah in Firewatch: Serving as your only contact in Firewatch, the performance of Delilah was the most important part of this character. The performance by Cissy Jones brings to life a character with great depth, and her range extends from humorous to paranoid, to remorseful, and damn near everything in between. Cissy Jones nails every single line she delivers in one of the best performances of the year.

Warren Kole as Rafe Adler in Uncharted 4: Almost the perfect amalgamation of The Rocky Mountain Pro's Warren Cadence and Curtis Cole, Warren Kole delivers a performance fitting of a sniveling, pretentious, rich boy, who with every line just makes you want to punch the character straight in the face. Even beyond those traits, Kole steps up his delivery in the phenomenal third act to be more than deserving of being on this list.

Winner:

Emily Rose as Elena Fisher in Uncharted 4: Reprising her role from the previous Uncharted games, Emily Rose is given more to work with as the character of Elena is explored. She delivers every line to perfection, making Elena a relatable and sympathetic character in the beginning of the game, and one of the strongest female characters in the medium for the latter half of Uncharted 4. Nolan North may be the star of the show, but Emily Rose's fantastic performance helps elevate both of their characters to new heights for the series.

Best New Character:

• Delilah- Firewatch
• Henry- Firewatch
• Bastion- Overwatch
• Nadine- Uncharted 4
• Samuel- Uncharted 4
• Rafe- Uncharted 4
• Tensay- Far Cry Primal
• Plastic- Mirror's Edge Catalyst
• Helmut Krueger- HITMAN
• Gary Busey- HITMAN
• Jonas- Oxenfree
• Ren- Oxenfree
• Ashly Nakamura- Xcom 2
• Penny- Stardew Valley
• Sombra- Overwatch
• Father James Ballard- Mafia 3
• John Donovan- Mafia 3
• Uncle Death- Let it Die
• BT- Titanfall 2
• Trico- The Last Guardian

Honorable Mentions:

Ashly Nakamura- Xcom 2: It may be cheating to include a character I created, that was based off a character I created in a Fallout 4, on this list. But I'll be damned if my badass sniper, who was the sole reason my squad surviving as many missions as they did, didn't at least get a mention.

Delilah/Henry- Firewatch: I put these characters in a tie because of how much their individual characters rely on playing off the other. The reason they're both honorable mentions is because their arcs play more into the narrative than the characters themselves, but believe me, I'll get to that soon enough.

Super Honorable Mention:

Helmut Krueger- HITMAN: Everyone's favorite fashion model, serves as both an overpowered disguise and an incredibly silly running joke that pays off in an incredible way in the last episode of the game. Also, He's HELMUT... FUCKING... KRUEGER. Do I need another reason?

Runners Up:

Tensay- Far Cry Primal: Tensay is a great character because he routinely makes you drink something that leads to some of the best moments in the game. One of these moments involves your character hallucinating that he blew up the moon. Also, he has the same voice actor as Kratos.

Father James Ballard- Mafia 3: Mafia 3 is a game full of strong characters, but none are as well written as Father James. A Vietnam veteran who joined the church as penance for things he did during the war, Father James serves as the foil to John Donovan's crazy nonsense. In every scene, there is a tangible feeling of remorse delivered through the great writing and a fantastic performance by Gordon Greene. Father James might be one of the deepest characters in recent memory, but this sadly poignant speech is one of the things that set this character apart in many ways. (Not my video)

Winner:

Trico- The Last Guardian: Unlike last year's winner, Chloe Price, I can't say Trico is one of the best written or deepest characters of the year. But much like Chloe, the emotional connection I had to the bird-dog-cat thing transcended simply liking a video game character. Throughout my adventures with Trico, I grew to care about it the same way I cared about pets in the past. From the opening moments, which see the playable character pulling spears out of Trico, then feeding it, then escaping and seeing the full majesty of the creature. Every movement is so lifelike, and the behaviors are so believable that Trico feels like a real animal. He will ignore you half the time, he will pick you up and playfully swing you around as you try to take in a scenic vista, and he will whimper if you get too far away. One of the defining moments of this character comes just after he eats you a third time. After throwing the boy up, Trico can't wake him up. It then proceeds to carry the boy to a pool of water waking him. Trico's reaction upon the boy waking is one of the most powerful things I've seen in a game. The Last Guardian is a game that relies entirely on the relationship between the player and Trico and if the character didn't work, the game would go with it. It is safe to say however, that the game works because Trico is one of the most believable and sympathetic characters in the medium. Also, it shoots lightning from its tail.

Best Gameplay:

• Dark Souls 3
• Dishonored 2
• Far Cry Primal
• Furi
• Hitman
• Overwatch
• Titanfall 2
• The Witness
• Uncharted 4

Runners Up:

Titanfall 2: To be entirely honest, I am at a point with games where I will immediately write off first person shooters if they don't do something wildly different (Overwatch is a good example of how wildly different an FPS needs to be for me to even begin caring). Titanfall 2's campaign puts you in situations that allow for the game mechanics to truly shine through in some incredible ways. On top of that, the game just feels really good to play.

Dishonored 2: I love the original Dishonored. I consider it to be one of the best games I've ever played. Dishonored 2 continues that but also adds in a ton of new abilities that can open up the game in a ton great ways.

Winner:

HITMAN: HITMAN is a game about hiding in plain sight. Getting a disguise, then eliminating a target in an absurd way, then getting a new outfit to blend back in like nothing happened is easily the best gameplay experience of the year. Even beyond how ridiculous it can be, that nonsense is built on some of the best stealth mechanics I've seen in a long time.

Best Story/storytelling:

• Firewatch
• The Last Guardian
• Mafia 3
• Oxenfree
• Uncharted 4
• XCOM 2

Honorable Mention:

XCOM 2: The actual story of this game isn't great, but I bring it up because of how it tells an element of its story through mechanics. By allowing you to fully customize every soldier, the game develops an instant connection that only gets stronger. The reason Ashly Nakamura was mentioned for best character was because of how many time she saved the rest of my customized squad with a well-placed shot from across the map. The most fascinating part was my reaction when a character I had on success with on many missions would just die because I made a bad play the turn before.

Runners Up:

Uncharted 4: As far as I'm concerned, Neil Druckmann may be the best writer in gaming. The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind are easily two of the most well-written games I've ever played. This high quality continues in Uncharted 4, which sees the end of the adventures of Nathan Drake. The story itself is fantastic with its fair share of lies, betrayals, and Elena being way to caring about the cast of terrible people around her, but the level of character writing in this game is some of the best I've seen in the medium. Not only are the new characters individually memorable, but Nathan Drake himself gets some much-needed depth to his character. The story in this game is top-notch, I just wish 90% of it wasn't told through cutscenes.

The Last Guardian: The Last Guardian follows the traditional Team Ico method of storytelling. Keep everything as simple as possible, but use mechanics to explore themes. This model works to utter perfection in this game, because it's hard to make "boy walks large animal home" sound amazing, but because every major theme is explored through mechanics it transcends that simple narrative. Arguably the best thing about this story is its ending. They could have easily went with the Trico sacrifices itself to save the boy, but they didn't. Keeping both of them alive long after the events of the game, is one of the most positively affecting endings I've ever seen in a game. I wasn't crying because it was over, I was crying because of a beautiful story of unspoken friendship being told in the most effective way possible.

Winner:

Firewatch: When the meme around Firewatch was going around this fine website, I had no idea that Firewatch would provide an experience that not only hit home, but made me question where my own mind is now and where it is going. Firewatch's strange middle, where the main characters become victims of their own imaginations, is kind of out there, but still makes sense in a way. Firewatch's beginning and third act are where it comes into its own. The game has you playing as Henry, a man who took a job as a lookout deep in the wilderness of Wyoming trying to escape the thoughts of his wife who has developed early onset dementia. Immediately you start communicating with a fellow lookout named Delilah over a walkie talkie and the game explores their relationship with each other and the reasons they came to the middle of nowhere. As I said, the whole conspiracy arc the game takes isn't great, but surrounding it are some fantastic meditations on escapism and whether or not we are all running from something. This hits quite well but some of the ways they handle Henry's relationship with his wife are where this game hits me the most. From Henry's point of view, it's easy to understand the reasons for his actions, but it is his wife's point of view that provokes the strongest feelings. As someone with a history of traumatic brain injuries (years of playing football on top of currently being a pro wrestler in training), early onset dementia and other mental illnesses are a very real possibility later in life. And it's that aspect of Firewatch's story that is so affecting. The thought of finding the love of my life and then slowly losing everything until the one I cared about the most is a complete stranger is something more terrifying than any boogeyman in the woods. Firewatch even works this into the ending with a brilliant visual metaphor. At the end of the game, a fire rages out of control and fills the air with dense smoke. The map you've been exploring for the past several hours becomes a confusing mess. That shortcut you discovered earlier in the game is now hidden in the smoke, the path you thought lead to Delilah's sector now leads straight into a wall of rock, the once familiar becomes foreign. It may not have the best writing in a game this year, but the touches like this, the way it made me feel an existential dread, and the way it questions if playing the game in and of itself is a way to escape those feelings, all make Firewatch's story the best of the year.

And that's the end of day 3. Tomorrow, we begin heading toward the homestretch, but there are some obstacles with Best Line(s), Biggest Trainwreck, Please Stop, and finally most fun to watch. If you've made it this far, there are only 2 days left so be thankful, and if you are just joining me, welcome and please feel free to check out day 1 and day 2. Either way, thanks for reading.