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Oxenfree featured an effective horror story, a great soundtrack, and surprisingly natural feeling dialogue between teenagers. Good vibes, good art, good music. A good time.
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I don't play a lot of shooters anymore but the single player campaign was surprisingly beefy even if you could still beat it in a single sitting. Lots of unique mechanics for a per mission basis coupled with a really solid shooter. There are worst ways to spend a day. I even felt attached to the characters? Something you probably couldn't say about most shooters these days.
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Even though I've fallen from Final Fantasy XIV I still poke my head in from time to time to see what has been added. Even though initially released years ago the game still receives free updates with large amounts of content. This year one of the big ones for me was a mentoring system, allowing experienced players sign up to help guide newer ones through some of the early game. This is an MMO that shows it cares for its players, both the casual and the hardcore. With over a thousand hours put into it I probably will still continue to play for years to come.
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Dishonored 2 felt like really an unnecessary sequel to the first game. To be honest, I never thought the first one had sold well enough to justify a second. The worst that can be said is that it's more Dishonored. With that comes enjoyable stealth mechanics, a fun world, and lots of optional decapitations. I have mixed feelings about the abundance of main character dialogue which is a deviation from the first game's silent protagonist style. Sure, I feel like I'm a person and not a murder machine, but if those voices are there just to make sure you look in the right spots? Not too great. Honestly if I had played more Hitman I'm unsure that this would've made it on the list. A good game if you can pick it up on a sale.
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This farming simulator ruled my life for a brief time. I enjoyed the order I found within its charming world. It's a fun fantasy to be able to escape the drudgery of day to day life and find a simple farm life to turn to. The characters are fun to interact with, though once you exhaust their dialogues it all feels a little creepy. A not so great combat system is a good distraction, but ultimately you'll automate much of the farming aspect and have nothing else to do. The game doesn't have an "end", but maybe it should. Marrying a spouse originally felt like I was stripping their personalities from them to turn them into a home decoration, but updates have improved things. Hopefully with the new PS4 and Xbox editions we'll have an influx of more content and I'll hop back into it.
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Firewatch is the best game that fell at the finish line this year. Wonderful art and charming characters helped dull the sting of the poor ending of an otherwise great story. It was certainly worth my time, but maybe not something to replay for a few years.
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Doom is one of the best shooters in many years. Who would of thought that this franchise still had it? Doom excels at making you feel like an unrelenting murder tornado while still keeping you in check. When you take down the larger enemies in the game you've always felt like you've earned it. Just a really fantastic experience all around. Even the story was great! Humans are literally fracking Hell, y'all.
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Honestly I haven't played the other Uncharted games. I'm vaguely aware of the events of them and that they've existed for years now but just could never bring myself to finish one. However Uncharted 4 really grabbed me with a shockingly human story. Maybe not the most original, but well executed. Graphically it probably isn't one of the best fidelity-wise, but the animations felt natural in way that many games struggle with. This one was just a really fun time with a really engaging story, absolutely worth your time.
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Superhot is probably the most stylish game of the year. A simple concept fleshed out into a really great puzzle shooter.
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Pocket Card Jockey might be the only solitaire game left worth playing in the current market. A bizarre combination of cards and horse racing works really well, the racing aspects has a good bit of depth to it which helps keep things from getting repetitive. Definitely overlooked this year which is a real shame.
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