So, in previous years, I've decided to make a thread for the best games people played in a year, regardless of whether the game actually came out that year or not. But, partially since there's a GOTY thread and partially because I played so little from this year, this year, I decided this would be better. So, as long as you played a majority of the game for the first time in this year specifically, what are the best games you played that officially came out BEFORE January 1st, 2016?
For me, it's basically a tie between these games (barring maybe the last one, which is a little bit lower). Couldn't decide which one was the best.
-Hitman: Absolution. What a fantastic game. I normally have no tolerance for repeating things because I failed, especially nowadays. But I always wanted to try the weird, differents ways to sneak and kill through a level. The strange ways you can do things at times (that trial level was so amazing). And I'm not a huge stealth guy, but this one was just so cool, and so well implemented with all the things you can do and was so user friendly that I loved it.
-Metal Gear Rising. God bless Platinum. Never stop making games. What a fantastic game. It is everything good about Platinum, with minimum of the bad. While the actual plot is not great, even as a comedy game, it at least has the credibility of the Metal Gear universe, which also matched the comedy and absurdity perfectly. But the rest of it, is simply Platinum at their best. Another fantastic action game, with the satisfying ability to cut enemies to pieces being the cool gimmick to add to this version of Platinum's signature gameplay style. Also, one of the most amazing finales to a game ever. EVER. NANOMACHINES, SON
-Stretchmo. 3DS puzzle games are the underappreciated gems of gaming. Maybe not necessarily underrated, or underselling but I see very little caring for these types of games. They exist but whatever. They're just puzzle games on 3DS. Who could care? But Pushmo was the best 2011 3DS game, easily, and while I knew other games existed, I didn't care too much. But I heard a lot of good things about this one from some people, during the brief moments I heard it acknowledged by anyone. And it is fantastic. While occasionally a little obvious in solutions, just through sheer quantity, I can't help but be impressed. The choose how you play model of buying it is weird but at the end of the day, if you pay 10 bucks (I believe) you get TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY LEVELS. WITH FIFTY MORE IF YOU BEAT THOSE. OF ONE OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY DOWNLOADABLE TITLES ON THE SYSTEM. Like Color Zen last year, I can just play this for a bit, play a couple of levels and get a satisfactory experience.
-Guacamelee. Perhaps my favorite of the Metroidvania games I've played that aren't from either of those series. Taking a fun little brawler and expanding it to be a great Metroid love letter with a fantastic aesthetic is so brilliant, no wonder I heard about it so often. I dunno, if you pay attention to indie games at all, you already know about it. You've probably played it already! But in case you haven't, it is so good. The actually brawling is not THE most in-depth, but it is very good for a 2d one, and the Metroidvania exploration stuff (among other things) are the perfect way to go between those segments anyway. Just an enjoyable game from beginning to end. Soundtrack is also fantastic. Absolutely fantastic, a perfect mix of traditional Mexican and mariachi inspired music while being catchy like the best older video games that inspired it (though amusingly Metroid was about atmospheric music for half the time but whatever...)
-Darksiders 2. So I'm putting this here not because it's as good as the other games I mentioned. I personally don't think it is. However, I feel like Darksiders 1 disappointed me a bit. Despite being a game I ultimately liked, I just didn't think the mixture of God of War and Zelda was as compelling or fun as I thought it would've been. So the fact that I enjoyed Darksiders 2 so much, despite being harsher towards 1 than most, says a lot about the game. And I think people just consider it "Darksiders 1 with a bit less Zelda". And while that is partially true, to me that was clearly an improvement. While the combat doesn't live up to a Platinum game exactly, it is improved by how the Zelda-like puzzle items (or the game's equivalent) are very effectively used for it (despite there being far less of them). And the game is just paced better, despite being longer, and I enjoyed the climbing far more than I expected (after being burned out of climbing in video games). It trimmed the fat of Zelda, which as a huge Zelda fan, this is not the series to try to be Zelda. It should try to be an action game with Zelda elements, and there is a difference, and they understood that. Here's hoping the hopefully upcoming Darksiders 3 improves on this one as much as 2 did to 1.
I played a lot of games this year, perhaps more than ever. But I actually played very few games that were released this year.
In no particular order:
1. Uncharted 1/2/3 - An excellent trio that really opened me up to the idea of games taking inspiration from movies. I absolutely love the cast, and I think the gameplay blends in incredibly well with the cinematics. If I'd have to choose a favourite, I'd say 3.
2. Beyond Good and Evil - After wanting to play this for a decade I finally got round to it, and wasn't disappointed. Feels like a game ahead of its time - I loved the setting, characters, and the gameplay's incorporation of Zelda-like mechanics and collectibles. Certainly a game to remember, and I'm super hyped for a sequel.
3. Jak 1/2/3 - All three very good games, for different reasons. Like BG&E, it's easy to become immersed in the world of Jak and Daxter. While I actually appreciated the edginess of 2 and 3, I see going back to the original the most for it's pure 3D platforming excellence.
4. Final Fantasy VII/VIII/IX - I've dabbled in the Final Fantasy series for a while, but it was only recently that I took the push and decided to complete one of them...and then I completed three of them in a row. They are all such fantastic games with their own merits. While I prefer the gameplay and sci-fi-ish setting of VII and VIII, IX really blew me away with its cast of characters and presentation.
5. South Park: the Stick of Truth - This game did a great job of capturing the town of South Park, and making it an interesting place to explore. I really felt like I knew the town inside-out by the end of the game, and never once felt bored while playing. The combat and mechanics were sufficient and gave me a Paper Mario vibe, which was good. Not to mention that this is one of a few games that can be called outright hilarious, and the story that many moments that left me speechless or telling my friends. A must buy for any South Park fan, even if not much of a gamer.
10. Dragon Quest V (Android) - In terms of overall quality, this would easily earn a "Top 5" spot, but as the only thing I did this year was beat the final dungeon (did everything before in 2015), I don't think it should fully count for this list.
9. Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse (Android) - Remake of the 16-bit classic that's more of a homage to the N64/PS1 era in terms of design. It has a lot of heart, and I think would be wonderful on a more traditional platform, but ran into too many issues playing it on my tablet to rank it any higher.
8. Kirby's Dreamland 2 (3DS VC) - Decently fun traditional Kirby platformer, but it just didn't have that "it" factor for me, and I didn't personally care for the animal buddies.
7. Dokuro (Android) - Puzzle platformer that works suprisingly well on mobile. There were a few gameplay hiccups (though interestingly they were more often to do with the drawing parts than the platforming parts), but it generally played fine, with a unique gothic visual style that saw you playing as a little minion skeleton who decides to betray the Dark Lord and escort the imprisoned princess out of the castle (and it actually has a few story twists)!
6. Super Dangerous Dungeons (Android) - Great little platformer inspired by the 16-bit era. It drops the "Metroidvania" style gameplay of it's Game Boy inspired predecessor in favor of a level based approach, but that's a minor complaint. It looks nice, plays nice (even with touch controls, it just somehow doesn't miss a beat with it's traditional control scheme), gets fairly challenging (each world even has an extra challenging hidden level), and is truly free (even the ads aren't intrusive, with one only popping up after every few levels, or attempts, last I played).
5. Lara Croft GO (Android) - This is how you build a game for mobile from an established series. It's one time pay to play, simple to pick up (but lots of elements are added to it as it goes on, so it stays fresh), has a colorful art direction, and pays homage to the older games in the series in terms of it's overall vibe.
4. Front Mission Evolved (360) - Gameplay can be a bit stiff (makes sense in context, but not sure if it was actually purposeful) & it's a tad on the short side, but it's just so much darn fun going around in a mech & blowing up everything in your path. Plus, it actually had some memorable & challenging boss fights.
3. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (360) - I was skeptical going into this because I generally don't do FPS', but I figured I owed it to myself to try the series out, and am glad I did. Some aspects of it definitely feel aged (naturally), but once I got into the rhythm of it, it was really quite fun, and not as dark & gory as I thought it would be (at least with the remastered graphics). Everything was bright & neon-y, and other than a few splotches of red blood in the environment, most everything else was just green, yellow, or blue alien goop. Plus, the gameplay was very tight (except for the vehicle controls. That last segment can die in a hole).
2. Shantae & the Pirate's Curse (3DS) - What a delight. The graphics are excellent, it has a great visual direction (it's actually the first game in ages that had me turn on the 3D), memorable characters, & the gameplay is very tight, getting difficult without ever feeling too far out of reach. Great "Metroidvania", and if I had to level one issue at it, maybe the bosses weren't all that stand out? (really minor complaint, though)
1. Tales of Vesperia (360) - When I played TotA on my 3DS a few years ago, it really revived my love for gaming, and Vesperia was just as good. There are little things I like better about TotA, but there are just as many small advantages I'd give to Vesperia. It's a grand adventure lasting about 50 hours, and just like TotA, I really missed the characters once I was done with it (especially as a home console game that took me a few months to work through, they had really started to feel like a little part of my life, and the ever excellent skit system really added to that). Plus, I must say the bright anime-ish graphics really popped & wowed in HD.
Cool. I'll include my ten favorite games I finished this year.
SMT IV: Apocalypse: Such a huge improvement over SMT IV. I played this for about 100 hours in an obsessive haze over a period of two weeks.
Undertale: Incredibly memorable and subversive little RPG. What really made this game for me was the disturbing and challenging "Genocide" route.
Super Mario Sunshine: It has its issues, but Mario is SO fun to control in this game. Loved exploring the various worlds, and the huge gameplay diversity on display.
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: My first MH experience, and it might have ruined other entries in the series for me, as it has an enormous SP campaign with colorful characters, impressive cutscenes, and wonderfully cinematic monster intros.
Velocity Ultra: An almost perfect arcade experience, full of tight gameplay and tricky levels that require multiple playthroughs and lightning fast reflexes to master. Thankfully, restarting levels on a dime is enormously easy and became reflexive for me whenever I'd make a mistake on my quest to master a given level. Probably the most satisfying Platinum trophy I've ever earned.
Zero Time Dilemma: It doesn't match up to the previous game, but it's still Zero Escape, darn it, which means it's as engaging and disturbing a cinematic puzzle game as you're ever likely to find.
Super Metroid: So, so impressive. I already gave my broad impressions of this in the thread where you talk about games you've recently beaten, but I really should reiterate how atmospheric and masterfully designed this game is.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth: EO gameplay with Persona characters, which is an instant win for me. The real stars of this game, however, are the wonderful puzzle-filled dungeons. It was a lot of fun figuring out how to conquer each one of them.
Super Castlevania IV: Not the Gold Standard for Classicvania design (that would be Rondo of Blood), but darn close with one of the funnest-to-use weapons in the series (the amazing whip that you can wiggle around in any direction!) and lovely 16-bit artwork.
Rayman Legends: Felt more like a huge level pack than a full game, but it's still one of the most polished and clever 2D platformers that I've ever played.
Not in any particular order, although SMT IV: Apocalypse is definitely my favorite.
Although it was made in 1994, I replayed Super Metroid for the fourth time on the fourth different Nintendo platform (SNES, Wii, Wii U and the new 3DS) and it was the best time I have ever played it, mostly because of the perfect 1:1 pixel mapping on the new 3DS.
This means that Super Metroid is being displayed in its native resolution on a brilliantly small display. It looks - and feels - like playing a new game, and I got 100% for the first time too. The best ending probably wasn't worth all that extra effort, but it was nice to see it all the same.
Outside of Super Metroid and continuing to play the team based online multiplayer on Star Wars Battlefront, the vast majority of the games I played (and completed) in 2016 were released in 2016. I'm not one to return to old(er) games, especially when I barely have any free time to play all these new ones!
Batman Arkham Knight been phenomenal is so many ways, as well as The Witcher 3. I am currently playing Batman Arkham Knight again, as well as Gears of War 4 and Guitar Hero Live. My girlfriend and I love this Guitar Hero game to death. I have way too many good games to play and not enough time! I even have Metal Gear Solid 5 sitting on the shelf untouched!
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I really enjoyed uncharted 4 and The Last Guardian (which I'm glad a friend recommendation or I wouldn't have even known about it).
Panic Mansion http://philome.la/beatlesfan317/panic-mansion is a combination of a trivia game and an action-rpg available to play online, in a web browser for free. You must answer questions and defeating bosses at the end of each lev...
Shovel Knight Undertale Ratchet & Clank Collection Breath of Fire II Primordia...which was ballocks and I never want to play it again.
...and a couple Eroge games I can't talk about. A lot of old school DOOM (mostly via mods or through DOOM 3: DFG Edition). Maybe some smattering of other games, but nothing really subctantial, IIRC. Granted, I played a lot of brand new stuff, too. I dunno how new Ziggurat and Tower of Guns were, but I remember playing quite a bot of those, too. oh, and Enter the Gungeon.
...yeah, I didn't really spend much time with games last year. A lot of stuff happened in my real life that I had to deal with, and...okay, those Eroge games took up more free time than they should've, too. At least that fat's been cut, and I've already started the new year with a bang. Good riddance to 2016...
I didn't have much time to play video games last year, but my highlight was The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. I did play the original on GC, but never 100% it. Now I did, and when I finished the game I was dissapointed the game had come to an end.
The parts where development schedule caught up to them are obvious, the lack of dungeons and the Triforce quest. Hero Mode was a welcome addition - even if it didn't make the game that much harder.
Only played Metroid Prime for the first time last year. That really just blew me away. Near-perfect game. I'd put it marginally ahead of Super Metroid on account of the much better boss battles and shooting mechanics. Can anyone tell me if Prime 2 and 3 are worth playing? Are they just the same thing over again or do they do new things?
Also, Witcher 3. I have no idea why I didn't play this at launch. I hadn't played the prequels so just wasn't into the series. This is probably my favourite open-world game of all time. There's just something about this world, its lore and characters that feels more real than a lot of other series. Maybe it's because its unapologetic in being aimed at adults. This was one of those games that I'd always have in the back of my mind when I wasn't playing.
@Dezzy yeah metroid prime is amazing. the first one is definetly my favourite in the series. the 3rd one is really cool, too and has some great motion controls! the second one is the weakest IMO, but that's because i got stuck on a boss fight. there is also some stupid gameplay element where you lose health when you are within some areas of fog. i cant really remember. not sure if it is just in one level or if this mechanic is in the entire game.
@Dezzy Yeah, definitely agree on The Witcher 3, probably my favourite 2015 too had I played it when it launched. Don't know why I skipped it, but after hearing all the praise, I had to get the GOTY edition to check it out for myself. Can't say I was disappointed; The entire world and the lore surrounding it is just fantastic, absolutely amazing.
@Ralizah I think that the general consensus is the first two games aren't as good as TW3, they certainly haven't aged that well. Fortunately you don't need to play the other two games to enjoy the third game.
You don't need to play the first 2. The story is largely independent. The only thing missing is that some of the world's lore and character backstories will be taken as a given in W3, whereas would've been explained a bit more in the previous 2 games.
So it's just little things like Geralt will know who a particular character is even though you've never seen them before. Very minor stuff.
Ah. I'll probably pick TW3 up later this year, then. Presumably after timesinks like BotW and P5 are in the rearview mirror. So... probably when the Steam summer sale rolls around.
It's pretty cool that I'll be able to get the game and all of the big expansion packs for somewhere in the neighborhood of $25-30.
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Topic: Best (not 2016) games you played during 2016
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