Looking at the list after its all typed out, I can say that 2016 was a year of refinement for me. There are very few new experiences. Instead, the games that stood out this year took a solid formula and integrated, perfected, and otherwise refined experiences, with one standout exception. That isnt to say that these games arent good though. Oftentimes, the best games are ones that take an existing formula and sharpen it to its razor point (hello, Blizzard). Here are 6 games that I thought did that this year, and 1 game that seized the world.
1. Stardew Valley; In the summer of 2002, my girlfriend picked up a copy of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature from the bargain bin of our local BX (military base shopping center). I took one look at the case, the cover, and the price and told her not to waste her money. She did not heed my warnings, on on the way home I poked some good natured fun at what I thought was her loss. HM: BTN would, little to my expectation at that moment, become one of my favorite games of all time.
Its impossible to talk about Stardew Valley without mentioning Harvest Moon. The game is clearly inspired, to put it lightly, by the series. However, it would also be misleading to also dismiss Stardew Valley as simply a Harvest Moon clone. After over a decade of missteps (with a few exceptions here and there) Harvest Moon had all but faded into obscurity for me, neither providing compelling gameplay nor iterating on their formula in any meaningful way.
Stardew Valley, on the other hand, has not only taken the best elements of Harvest Moon but strengthened the formula. Stardew Valley has infused the compelling day to day farm management gameplay and added a compelling crafting -- creating a custom space for your farm and your family. It has taken a more modern approach to character building, creating a more inclusive and more compelling cast of characters. Every area in the game seems simultaneously inspired by its predecessors but also elevated to be more than the sum of its parts. And the most important part is that its damn fun. Curling up by the television to play Stardew Valley brings me back to 2002 but also keeps me in 2016.
2. XCOM 2; XCOM2, unlike its predecessor, was not a revolution in the turn based strategy space. Instead of offering us a radically different vision of what a TBS could be XCOM2 refined the formula established by Enemy Unknown into a razor sharp edge. It improved (almost) everything about the first game delivering an amazing experience early on in 2016. The strategic base layer, certainly an afterthought in EU was overhauled, simultaneously streamlining and expanding its strategic depth. The classes were redesigned and rebalanced in order to appeal to different playstyles. The enemies were similarly overhauled to make them more deadly and fun to fight against. Hell, even the engine was overhauled in order to make mod support, a major contributor to the longevity of EU, a baseline feature (in the PC version). Fans, including myself, were ecstatic at the amount of love and care given to make XCOM2 a dream sequel.
That is not to say, however, that Firaxis played it safe. They were not afraid to make difficult choices in order to adhere to their vision of a better XCOM. The tactical maps, which had favored a slow, creeping style of gameplay in the first were changed to make the timing more urgent. This upset some fans but I think overall the gameplay has improved as a result. The class balance, which heavily favored long range tactics and certain gadgets in EU, were also overhauled in order to make gameplay more nuanced. Again, a difficult choice but one that needed to be made and overall contributed to the health of the game. Overall, however, I was extremely pleased with the results of XCOM2 and I hope that Firaxis continues to support the franchise with many releases down the road.
3. Tyranny; Tyranny, the second game by Obsidian to use the Pillars Engine, was a late addition to my game of the year list. Pillars of Eternity, released in 2014, is a sprawling fantasy epic in the vein of games such as Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Tyranny, by contrast, is a darker fantasy epic that explores the notion of morality and choice in a world where evil has already won. And while the promise of the premise does not always hold it offers more nuanced choices than 99.9 % of all role playing games on how to explore that question. Make no mistake, there are no mustachioed twirling villains, ala Bioware or Bethesda, in this game. Even those who you might first condemn as completely evil turn out to be more interesting when looked at closely. Likewise, many of the traditionally heroic archetypes, when reexamined through the lens of your character, seem more like petulant and selfish children rather than knights in shining armor.
That is not to say, however, that Tyranny does not have its flaws. The combat system, mostly unmodified from Pillars of Eternity, has some rough edges. Combat is exceedingly difficult at first, and then, by the end of the game, becomes gradually too easy, even on higher difficulty settings. Additionally, there is a serious case of both skill, magic, and inventory bloat for some characters, while other characters (notably the more marital/tanky classes) suffer from too little to do in combat. Thankfully, combat still remains engaging, and the difficulty curve means that a multitude of individual combat styles can be successful. And the magic system, inspired by games like Magika, is actually really cool and fun.
I never really got the appeal of playing a bad guy in most role playing games. Sure, there's some giddy satisfaction that you get the first time your character says or does something morally reprehensible. But ultimately most binary choices seem hollow. Tyranny, however, is a game where I finally felt like I could embrace being a power-hungry asshole not because it was some choice in some sort of imaginary scale, but because its what my character actually would want to do. And then, Im gonna go back, and do it again, differently, just to see how it turns out. After all, thats the true hallmark of a great role playing game -- diving right back in to see what happens if you try it another way.
4. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft - Mean Streets of Gadgetzan; Lets just get this out the way now -- there is no game that I played more of this year than Hearthstone. The simple pick up and play formula has captivated my attention for a third straight year in a row and for good reason. Hearthstone is a deceptively simple take on the CCG genre, featuring easy to understand rules, asynchronous turns all wrapped up in your typical Blizzard charm.
This year in Hearthstone, however, has not been the best. The release of the Old Gods, coupled with the announcement of Standard Mode alleviated some of the problems with a few overpowered archetypes. However, the unintended effect of Old Gods expansion unleashed a hell by the name of Yogg-Saron, a card so game breaking that it, for perhaps the first time ever, forced Blizzard to act, ending its reign of terror. The next expansion, Karazhan, was also perceived somewhat as a flop, introducing powerful cards that relied too much on random chance or just powered up already high powered deck types.
It was not until the 3rd expansion of the year, Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, where things began to calm down. Mean Streets is not perfect, but it has yet to be game breaking. The current state of the meta has many playable decks, and quite a few that rely on skilled play. And despite all the ups and downs this year, Hearthstone is still my most played game of the year. For that, I think MSOG deserves a spot on my Game of the Year list. Heres to another great year of HS.
5. Pokemon Go; To be quite frank, Pokemon Go is on this list because it is a legitimate phenom. As a gaming enthusiast it is sometimes hard to realize how detached most people are from the world of video games. Sure, there are millions of people who play Candy Crush or Clash of Clans. But it was not until Pokemon Go happened that I could legitimately say that everybody I knew was playing this game. Id walk down the street and there were kids playing it. Their parents were also playing it. There were people in the park, people in line at the theater, people at home all sitting down and playing it. My sister played it -- so did my girlfriends sister. It was everywhere. It reintroduced so many people (including myself) to Pokemon. And yes, it didnt last forever. But it was an amazing experience to see so many people obsessing over a video game. It is something I doubt Ill ever see again, so Ill savor that moment. 20 years later, I expect that if you were alive in 2016 you might be asked why everybody cared so much about Pokemon that summer.
6. Grim Dawn; Its no secret that I was hard on Grim Dawn during its early access build days. Im happy to say that, in its final build, I believe that Grim Dawn is deserves to be labeled a spiritual successor to Diablo II. The combat in particular feels really well realized on a moment to moment basis. The loot, as well, enables unique and interesting characters in a way that, until recently, Diablo 3 did not. My character, for example, found something early on that allowed them to dual wield pistols. I was able to take that archetype, not normally allowed via the rules, through the whole game, because I found items that supported that kind of playstyle. How cool is that?
That isnt to say that Grim Dawn isnt without its flaws. In particular, some of the skills tree remains a bit too lackluster. Additionally, the writing is, at times, painfully grim dark -- in a bad we come from the 90s Spawn era way instead of the good, balanced way. But overall, blowing up demons cultists (demon cultists?) is truly great when you are playing Grim Dawn.
7. DOOM; Speaking of blowing up demons and demon cultists
DOOM is next on my list of top games of 2016. There has traditionally always been at least 1 first person shooter on my list -- primarily because there is always at least some point during the year where I just want a good old fashioned shoot out. DOOM, this year, takes that prize. ID software is the master at making fun, satisfying gunplay. There was no point during this shortish experience where I felt bored and that was a good thing. I dont know that Id ask for that much more of DOOM, but I do know that what I did play was excellent.
Rather than try to pad my list with additional games that I have hardly (or will have hardly) played Ive decided to leave it at this -- a top 7. These are all games that I can recommend this year and have the highest accolades from me. There are an additional 2 games I wanted to mention as standouts this year, neither of which are game of the year material, but are nonetheless interesting experiences.
Honorable Mentions:
x. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition; This is an interesting pick for me. Skyrim is a vast, open world with a million and one things to do. It was one of those games that I always wanted to try but never got around to when it was first released. Now that Ive had an opportunity I have to say -- Skyrim has completely cured me of the want to play any more open world role playing games (at least for the time being). Dont get me wrong -- the time I spent in Skyrim was great. My character, a sneaky half cat half man with a heart of gold, was really fun to play. But, the game itself was so overwhelming to an OCD gamer like myself that it totally broke the hold that these types of games normally have on me. It is, however, still, an incredible game, and I had an incredible amount of fun playing it. I just dont think I can do it again anytime soon. Thats probably a good thing.
x. LTTP: Renowned Explorers; I know that there is no official late to the party category this year, but I wanted to at least acknowledge one game that I played this year that would have gone into my GOTY category had it not been released more than a year ago. That game, is Renowned Explorers, a deceptively simplistic, yet tactically brilliant rogue-like. The game has you assuming the command of a band of explorers, trekking through the unknown in an effort to become the most famous (or infamous) band that has ever lived. To do that, youll have to sharpen your combat skills, make bold choices, and assemble the right entourage of admirers.
The game sounds simplistic, but there are actually many brilliant layers beneath the surface level game. For example, the combat is the game is a turn based system with a twist. You can attack both physically and verbally (in two flavors) in an effort to defeat monsters. Your party, assembled at the start, is probably better at one or two types of combat than it is at all three. Additionally, your opponents are naturally inclined in certain ways as well (for example, sheep are mostly friendly, while wolves are mostly aggressive). The overall mood (i.e. the interaction between you, your opponents, and the environment itself) also plays a role in combat. Thats just one of the many gameplay systems in Renowned Explorers -- and there are many more. I am glad that I took the time to play this game this year because it is very refreshing.
