1. Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ; The competition wasn't exactly fierce on my end this year, but even if the other contenders had been more worthy of the praise, I doubt anything could have come close to Uncharted 4 for me. I've written at length on several occasions about the many reasons I felt so drawn into it, and getting to see Naughty Dog's work on a current gen machine was more than worth finally getting a PS4.
I do believe that the game's pacing suffers from its partial over-reliance on exposition, but there are so many genuinely touching character moments woven into the narrative that I can forgive its failings. The added toolset and larger environments add greatly to the feel of platforming and make enemy encounters much more dynamic and interesting (I especially like the improved stealth system). Above all though, A Thief's End is a sight to behold. I couldn't possibly count all the moments the game left me in complete awe, be it because of beautifully rendered environments, near-lifelike character movement and animation, a completely over-the-top destruction sequence (I pretty much burst out laughing after the clock tower puzzle because of the sheer ridiculousness of its conclusion), or the tension that is continuously built and maintained by the narrative's tone.
In many ways, Naughty Dog have once again defined the new standard for video game presentation. I knew going into this year that few games could hope to compete with Uncharted 4 for GotY, and with Zelda getting delayed yet again, I doubt anything's going to do it now. I'll keep playing more games before the deadline (insofar as my schedule allows it), but unless something drastic happens, nothing else could take that top spot this year.
2. World of Warcraft: Legion ; Given the number of hours I sunk into Legion, it would be highly disingenuous not to list it here. Looking back, I was really not happy with Warlords of Draenor (mostly because of the relative persistence of its content drought almost immediately after launch), and so wasn't overly excited about Legion, either (through a combination of my disappointment with WoD and the subjectively less interesting expansion premise).
I've let my subscription lapse again since the Legion launch, but I always anticipated that (I tend to play for a few months after launch and then stop, either because I don't have a serious raid group, or because I do, and am burnt out by the schedule). This time, I decided to join up with a few people I passingly knew irl, so that helped tremendously with the social aspects of the game, and as much as I like being a lone wanderer, cooperative play is where this game truly shines. There's nothing quite like finally downing a raid boss as a team through a combination of strategy, determination, and sheer force of will after long nights of getting your collective ass handed to you. Since I'm no longer active, I only got to experience the Emerald Nightmare and Trial of Valor, but they were a lot of fun to progress through.
Still, my favourite moments in the game probably stem from the quieter, more explorative elements, I love the early phase in an expansion where there's tons of stuff to do, be it pushing reputations, raising your profession skills, progressing through max level quest chains, etc. My favourite aspect this time around is easily the Nightfallen storyline in Suramar (Suramar also being my favourite zone on the Broken Isles, by far). I loved exploring Suramar City and the way the many initially optional objectives throughout the zone end up bringing you closer to your goal, and the Waning Crescent and Bazaar reminded me of Assassin's Creed's Venice in all the best ways. Order halls, while still not a great system, are nevertheless a huge step up from the Draenor garrisons, and the campaigns are genuinely interesting to play through. To be honest, the only thing that drags down daily gameplay is the world quest system, which doesn't feel nearly rewarding enough for the amount of time and nerves you need to invest at times.
It's a shame I won't get to play through the Nighthold and further Legion content the way it's intended to be experienced, but I simply have too much going on in my life to be glued to an MMO. Despite the fun I've had in the first 2-3 months after launch, there was little keeping me after my raid group disbanded.
3. Paper Mario: Color Splash ; Like many, I was midly sceptical towards this latest installment in the Paper Mario series when it was announced. The franchise has suffered somewhat in quality since its high days 10-15 years ago, and Wii U releases haven't all been great these past 2 years. That said, Color Splash is a ton to play. It's a shame that everything other than Toads and enemies seems to have been banished from the extended Mushroom Kingdom, but the better-developed Toad characters still work surprisingly well. Other than that, the game's aesthetic is positively beautiful, and level progression and exploration feel appropriately rewarding. I especially like the mild backtracking that's woven into the story's progression. My one main gripe with the game is its combat system. Using depletable cards doesn't add a lot in terms of resource management other than forcing you to run back to town every so often, using abilities feels unnecessarily slow, and most importantly, the frequent battles really tend to break up the rhythm of the overall game after a while. That said, it's still well worth checking out, and a decent way to send off the Wii U (since I'll probably be buying the Switch version of Zelda, Color Splash is likely going to be my final Wii U game).
4. Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright ; It's Fire Emblem, so it's both insanely frustrating and incredibly stimulating. I like the strategic elements and group building, but a lot of the circumferential systems make the game feel overly bloated. I had a lot of trouble finishing Awakening because the game doesn't sufficiently push you forward, and the same problem exists here. The main characters have become increasingly one-dimensional in the latest games, and giving you effectively two full squads has reduced the personalities of the many family members even more. I actually went to great lengths to buy the limited edition with all 3 games, but I haven't even beaten the first of those so far.
5. Overwatch ; I'm really not that into online FPS's, so my decision to buy Overwatch had a lot more to do with its aesthetic and the fact that it's a Blizzard game than anything else. I should say that what relatively little I ended up playing of it was a lot of fun, but I'm simply not a big enough fan of competitive gaming for its to keep me hooked longer. Given the quality of the final product, it's hard to be mad at Blizzard for scrapping the stuck-in-perpetual-development-hell Titan in favour of releasing the part that was actually working, but the work that was put into world building and making the various characters does make one wonder what could have been. I really hope they decide to go for a campaign mode somewhere down the line.
6. Rise of the Tomb Raider PC ; I really liked the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot. It was heavily inspired by other contemporary third person action-adventures, but in my opinion added just enough to keep it interesting. With the promise of larger. more open environments to explore and climb around in, I had very high hopes for Rise of the Tomb Raider. Of course, the delay of the PC version because of the timed XBO exclusivity stung, and the overall quality of the physical product I ended up buying hardly makes this feel like anything other than an afterthought. Luckily enough, the game doesn't suffer from the belated release. And yet, what does turn out to be quite bothersome is how little progress there is from TR2013 to RotTR. Areas are indeed larger, but that just ends up being an excuse for a greater number of more or less pointless collectibles. Interesting environmental or platforming puzzles, or tombs are few and far between. This probably wouldn't be such a big issue if the main game was a bit more interesting. While the reboot's flat set of characters and ultimately barebones plot were a clear detriment to the overall experience, I could look past that because Crystal Dynamics were essentially starting from nothing. Furthermore, Lara's inexperience at the beginning of that game lends more credibility to the survival aspect, which in turn gives urgency to looking for resources and tool upgrades. In the sequel, on the other hand, I would have expected something a bit more developed.
Ultimately, Rise of the Tomb Raider brings few improvements over the reboot other than its visuals and animations, which, thanks to the improed hardware base, are nothing to scoff at. Still, looking pretty alone is not enough to keep invested, and while I did end up getting that sweet 100%, I can't see myself going back to it anytime soon.
7. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE ; This may just be my first real JRPG. Since I'm not all too familiar with the genre, I've had some trouble getting accustomed to the game's peculiarities, but have nevertheless found a lot to love here. I really like the combo-based combat system, even if frequent enemy encounters can be terribly punishing (especially if your mana runs out and you are reduced to melee attacks against resistant enemies). I also kinda enjoy the visual style and overall story of the game, but then I've never really been bothered by more Japanese narrative beats. Still, I doubt I would have bought the game if there wasn't still a light conenction to the Fire Emblem franchise, which I have a lot of love for. Of course, the relation here is little more than tangential, but Tokyo Mirage Sessions has plenty of reasons to stay even without it.
I think my main problem with this game is the same one I had with Xenoblade Chronicles X - I really like what I'm playing, but end up finding the experience a little overwhelming, or at least a bit involved for the tempo I'm used to when burning through my backlog. I'll definitely have to go back to it eventually, probably with a few specific builds and strategies in mind to make sure I don't miss anything major.
8. Star Fox Zero ; I'm not sure I even played enough of this one to warrant an inclusion at this point (I finished some 4-5 early stages before getting sidetracked by other projects). To be fair, I was never h ugely invested in the Starfox franchise or its genre, more generally (even now, I'd probably be most likely to jump back into the more controversial Adventures), so it shouldn't be too surprising I'm struggling to maintain my interest. I do think that the game's core principles work out reasonably well, even if the heavy reliance on the Wii U gamepad does have a tendency to get in the way a bit, but I simply haven't played enough of the game to have a more fleshed-out opinion. All I can say is that flying and shooting feel good, and dog fights while free roaming can get quite intense. I definitely hope I'll find the time to sit back down with it and get a proper feel for its intricacies.
9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD ; Improved resolution and textures help in giving the game a new sheen, but the overall feeling of the original are preserved. Changes to the poe search are much welcomed, and the use of the gamepad for inventory management and gyro aiming works well (even though I preferred aiming with the Wiimote). Overall, this is pretty much Twilight Princess with a few minor additions, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Twilight Princess has some of my favourite dungeons in the series, and when it's at its strongest, it has a positively epic feel to it. Its main issue is still that it can feel terribly lifeless. Kakariko, the Goron / Zora domains, and Castle Town don't ever really feel like places that are actually lived in, and Hyrule Field is mostly just filled with nothing.
Twilight Princess is far from being my favourite Zelda game (even among the 3D ones, I'd easily prefer OoT, MM, and TWW), but it's still a great game in its own right. The only reason I rank it this low is that its a remaster / remake, and thus should (in my opinion) not eclipse the good new releases.
