I don't have a game of the year because I'm generally working on a pile of shame that turns out to be amazing but everyone's moved on by then.

Facewon wrote:

Andy wrote:

hylian_elf wrote:

But if a few people vote, I dunno, Virginia then I know I should probably play it.

You definitely shouldn't, btw.

But this is where the other thread did the same thing. You'll recall I mentioned Virginia in the Xbox thread, and then it appeared in the worst of the year list. Helped short-list some things for me.

Does it not just mean one person doesn't like it potentially?

Apologies in advance that I appear to be moaning about the majority of these games.  I thought it was a pretty good year.  I'm also aware that I rate no.4 and no.5 higher than no.3, but this makes sense to me.

1. Rive

Genuinely outstanding.  I raved about this a bit in the PS4 thread, but I may have been too excited to make much sense as I'd just finished it.  What a game.  I've got love for twitch arcade thrills in theory, but in practice the wave structure of Geo Wars & co. don't tend to grip me these days, which is one of the main reasons Rive appeals.  It's level based, but in a traditional get-to-the-goal way - you can't get lost, you can only get stuck.  It's also primarily a platform shooter, with sticks for movement/shooting and triggers for jumping and extra weapons.  It chucks dozens of contrivances at you for sections you have to get through with this or without that, whilst adding a smattering of new gameplay variations, pretty much none of which outstay their welcome.  One minute you'll be manoeuvring around an anti-grav bubble Super Stardust style, the next you'll be blasting your way through a forced scrolling section with one-way guns, or (double) jumping away from speeding bullet trains.  It's tough, but the checkpoints are so forgiving it's unlikely more than a handful of sections will hinder progression for long, and at around 5hrs it's a perfect £10 game.  There are plenty of nudge nudge wink wink (*sledgehammer*) game references in there too, plus a few whopping bosses and a decent-enough soundtrack.

Buy if you think you'd like an amalgamation of: 16-bit side scrolling mech shooters (Cybernator, Ranger X), PS360 gen twin stick shooters (Geometry Wars, Pixeljunk Shooter) and the try/die/repeat nature of checkpoint titles (Super Meat Boy, N+).  I get the impression I'm on my own with this game, but it refines its inspiration with Shovel Knight levels of aplomb.

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2. Uncharted 4

I was worried this would disappoint as I wasn't sure if Uncharted 3 was a good franchise over-milked, or just a poor sequel.  Thankfully, it turns out this is easily the best of the lot for me.  Some criticise it for being too cinematic and not enough of a game, but I've also seen complaints that it could do without bits of the game and focus on being cinematic (Drake murders too many people, really?).  For me it hits a sweet spot between the two, just as the other games did, only it does both a touch better than ever before.  I won't even pretend that the spectacular visuals haven't pushed this up the list, it's an absolute stunner.  Each to their own, but my advice to people chucking cash at 4K TVs and the 15%-extra-not-free consoles would be to just simmer down for a second and ignore the hardship of the 1080p underneath your mattress.   Plus it's a refreshingly simple experience - you don't have to traverse a map that's X amount of impressive kilometres long, you don't have to craft things, you won't run out of ammo, the checkpoint placement is kind and the treasure pick-ups are optional.  It's the third sequel to Uncharted; if you play it and knock it for having the same perceived shortcomings as the previous games you've only got yourself to blame.      

4 [9] (>2 [9]>1 [8]>3 [7]).  

3. Unravel

"The cat game".  So good the trailer can interrupt a rendition of Humpty Dumpty.



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4. Trackmania Turbo

A spectacular balls up by Nadeo/Ubisoft; a wonderful game wrapped in an infuriating experience.  Andy wrote something about them not knowing how to execute their own game, but I can't find it.  It's astonishing that the game shipped as it did, and almost impressive that they haven't relented and patched it, as a few tweaks to the front-end could elevate this to greatness instantly.  What should have been the next Trials has been hamstrung by a system that only allows you to compete with friend's ghosts, and doesn't allow you to check your position on the leaderboard.  You can tell that you're, say, 47th in the UK, but there's no way of checking how far off the pace you actually are, which is bread and butter for a time trial game.  Knowing you're only 0.017 from gaining ten places is the kind of incentive that drives people on in these games, surely.  Perhaps I've just been spoilt by Trials.  Moving on from the crushing disappointment regarding the leaderboards and hugely borked progression system, which I can't even be bothered to complain about, the gameplay is glorious.  I don't agree with the handling gripes at all*.  Once you're on the track, preferably balls deep in a tight head to head, it's so good this could've claimed my top spot for the year.  If only the devs had been able to keep their sweaty palms away from their faces after 90% of the job was done.  My grudge match against Muzzy on the track with the silly jump, frustrating as that entire week was, is probably my gaming highlight of 2016.  If I'd lost there's a chance this wouldn't have made the list at all, btw.  

Oh look, here it is.



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*Except the twitchy beach racer.    

5. Fire Emblem Fates

I've played this for over 90 hours, so 5th place seems harsh, but a chunk of that pretty much daily routine felt like unnecessary padding.  I've said this pre and post release: I would rather it was a single game.  The branching fates thing wasn't as horrendous as I'd feared - the player's decisions have no major consequences as far as I could see, which was a relief as I don't like the nagging sensation of having made a crap decision in Mass Effect et al.  For me it's all about the battles, and this is where it succeeds.  I'm basically moaning about there being too much game, and I skipped most of the dialogue anyway so it can't have bothered me as much as I think it did.   The dialogue deserves a special mention, as it's probably the poorest I've seen in an RPG since the 90s.  It's a shame these niggles have clouded my memory of what was quite clearly a killer grid-based tactics title.   At its best few games can touch it, but it was still a disappointment after Awakening.      

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The Honourable Mention:

Firewatch

I enjoyed this whilst playing it, but I seem to be growing fonder of it as time goes on.  I've never played anything quite like it.  Walking sims, at least the ones I've played, seem to have a lightness of touch missing from the QTE/David Cage style interactive narratives, which helps with the lasting impression.  I enjoy the likes of Until Dawn and Beyond Two Souls, but once they're finished it's like I snap out of a daze and can't pinpoint what I liked about them.  I tend to be a skipper in games - I hammer the A button through all text in Zelda, as I did with Fire Emblem above, and prefer to plot the fastest course to the credits.  In Firewatch and Gone Home, I had an odd compulsion not to miss anything - in Firewatch I attempted to go through every possible conversation strand, and in Gone Home I found myself searching for notes (then reading them!) and intricacies.  It's still a relatively young genre and I have extremely high hopes for it - Firewatch is easily the best of the bunch thus far.  Fantastic characters, a great setting and an excellent plot.

NB: I initially wrote an entire paragraph about technical issues on PS4, but deleted it to focus on the good things.  For anyone on the fence regarding the well documented graphical hiccups: the patch dragged it up to acceptable levels of performance.

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A big shout out to Forza Horizon 3 too, but I haven't put the time in yet.  I may add The Last Guardian and Inside at a later date, but other than that I think I'm done.

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Edit: Cheers Tempy.

I'm still angry

Haven't played any of those. Mildly tempted by Rive.

As Moot and I rarely agree, I'll make sure I don't play Rive.

I'll update list tomorrow.

Did you ever give Assault Android Cactus a go Moot?

Tempy wrote:

Did you ever give Assault Android Cactus a go Moot?

No, but I just watched the trailer and I reckon I'd enjoy that one in co-op.

Genuinely, when I close my eyes I keep seeing the thumper line and thinking about what you have to do so maybe I need to play thumper and change my list

I think all reviews should be in the form of Elvis songs.

trippy wrote:

Hyper Light Drifter
Another dreamy experience with no dialogue and beautiful art and sound design. The world is a pleasure to explore and the mechanics are nice and refined. It's the only game here that could be called challenging but it's never unfair. Lovely.

That's the only one on that list I've played and would say pretty much the same. It's a great game just to leisurely explore and hunt for hidden bits and bobs.

Need to fit that and X-Com 2 into my list somewhere. Don't think The Witness is going to get beat though.

Wife and kids will be away over Xmas for a week. I am hoping to get through:

Virginia
Oxenfree
Firewatch
Hyper Light Drifter
Quadrilateral Cowboy (mebbeh)
Other small indie games