In past years, I've written a larger blog post for every game. This year, I'm just writing a little blurb for each game and I may write a longer blog for my #1 game. If I do that, then a link to that blog will be posted here. Now, on to the list.
I have loved the Assassin's Creed series since it started. I was all in from the first game and I have only skipped Unity and Revelations. Seeing footage of this game when it was announced got me excited and ready to play another AC game. The best part about this game is that combat is now meaningful and not just button mashy. You can play it how you like by using either parrying or just going full blown attacking and dodging. The boss battles are a lot of fun, exploring the world is amazing and finding random things to do reminds me a lot of The Witcher 3. If you fell of AC, consider picking this game up. They were given more time and they produced a masterpiece and the best of the AC games because of it.
The moments in this game are freaking nuts. I don't want to talk about them because many people haven't played this game. Just know that you need to play this game. The Bombcast saying to set the game on easy and then play through it is true and why it's not #1. If they had carried over the gameplay from the first game with the story beats of this game, it would have been my #1 game.
This game dominated the first half of the year for me. The MP was so good and I was just waiting for Frontier Defense to come out. When it finally debuted, I switched over to that and stopped playing the MP. Frontier Defense is amazing and so well balanced, even on the easiest difficulty. It requires so much teamwork to succeed and I love that the most in this game. If you fell off Titanfall 2 last year, pick it back up just for Frontier Defense.
I wasn't sure if I was going to buy this game or not. I was curious though so when the first trailers came out, I watched them. The humor seemed to be there and the gameplay was completely different. I'd never played a Fire Emblem game and that was listed as an influence for how combat works. The strategy involved in putting your party together is terrific and knowing who does what keeps things interesting throughout. I'm not done with the game so it can't be higher but I can honestly say this was a one of the best games of the year.
I never played Destiny because I got bored while playing the public beta. I was convinced to play this because it seemed they were moving away from the bad stuff of Destiny and bringing in good things. The feel of the game is terrific and being able to play with the GB clan on Xbox One is what makes this game be a Top 5 Game of the Year.
I played this game back in January and I needed to recognize it. I had so much fun playing it because the story was really good. The characters are all well rounded and had great growth as the game went on. The one thing that fell flat was how they handled the death of a main character but other than that everything hit and hit well.
The first game was my #1 game when it came out and now it's #7. The game itself is still a lot of fun but it didn't grab ahold of me like the first one did. I still loved my time with it but didn't feel the need to finish it once I got to the Shadow War endgame. I did seek out how the game finishes and it's bonkers and I wholeheartedly am in on that ending. It just sucks you have to do so much to get to that point.
I actually played through this game twice this year. Once to clean up some achievements that I missed on the Xbox 360 version and then again when I bought The Fractured but Whole which came with a free copy of this game. The humor is still terrific, the turn based RPG is terrific and the scenarios you get yourself into are wonderful. The brokenness of status effects and exploiting them to your benefit was great to return to and it is still an excellent way to spend around 20 hours.
If you've been following my GotY lists, then this is the third year you've seen this game here. It is still an amazing game to play if I don't want to have to think about what I'm doing. This is the ultimate game to play when you need to relax and just want to listen to music while interacting with it. I continually try to improve my scores and work towards being the number one score on each track.
The Injustice franchise was a huge surprise when it first came out and I was hopeful this game would continue to the story they were telling in new, cool ways. Fortunately they did. The fighting system works really well, the super moves all look cool(some more than others) and you don't have to engage with the multiplayer side of the game if you don't want to. I'm terrible at fighting games and I had so much fun playing this game and I played 0 multiplayer matches. That means Netherrealm did an amazing job in making a fun and approachable game and it's one I loved playing this year.
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