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Eolz · Dec 21, 2016

As said here:

Our criterion: “the games that will remain in our memories as having defined the year for technical sophistication, storytelling, innovation, and pure intangible experience value.”

Here they are, listed by title in alphabetical order -- not ranked. The commentary is taken from our individual contributors' write-ups, and you'll find links to those at the end of this list.

This is actually kind of a best of from their individual GOTY lists (that they released days before). Here is the full ranking with some quotes:

Clash Royale by Supercell

Clash Royale is an imperfect game, but the concept is excellent.
(...)
Ultimately, a light PVP RTS is a great idea, and I personally enjoy using cards others don't, to make for a deck that surprises people when it works (three musketeers up in here). The free-to-play aspects of the game are pretty light, and the game can be played with minimal investment so long as you've got a clan to spend your time with. As long as new cards continue to keep the game fresh, I'll keep playing. (crying king emote).
- Brandon Sheffield

Doom by id Software

It stands tall among today’s shooters, but retains the elements that make Doom, Doom. Fast, gory, precise, and overall super crunchy, Doom uses the franchise’s legacy as a strong inspiration rather than a template to blindly follow.

Firewatch by Campo Santo

Firewatch is a game about two people talking in the woods, and I love it. It’s a great example of how a team can craft a game with vibrant, believable characters and meaningful choices without falling back anointing the player as the savior/destroyer of the world.

Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives by Owlchemy Labs

There are a lot of neat VR games that let you explore dramatic stories and solve complicated puzzles, but sometimes you just want a game that lets you throw raw steak at your floating robot boss. - Alissa McAloon

The Last Guardian by GenDesign (And SIE Japan)

The Last Guardian is so full of technical flaws, some of which could be attributed to a tumultuous, famously long development cycle, some of it due to choices made by Fumito Ueda. The camera is awful, the level design is incredibly unintuitive, your beastly companion Trico is unwieldy. So that leaves me to ask, why does this belong on my list?

The best answer I can come up with is that Ueda’s vision of companionship shined bright enough that The Last Guardian’s flaws didn’t matter much to me.

Mafia 3 by Hangar 13

If you traveled back in time six months and told past-me that Mafia III would be one of my favorite games of the year, I’d have cheerfully A) asked after your wondrous time machine and B) said you were nuts.

Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment

I admire Overwatch for its massive eSports presence, but I consider it one of my top ten games of this year for being a competitive game that is equally appealing to casual players. - Alissa McAloon

Stardew Valley by Concerned Ape

Stardew Valley merges those basic farming mechanics with a crafting system and basic RPG-like leveling as well to create a game that players can easily dump hundreds of hours into. Personally, I’m sitting right around 140 and I’ve only played maybe four in-game years. - Alissa McAloon

Titanfall 2 by Respawn Entertainment

It’s a game that constantly encourages the player to experiment with speed and carves individual levels and scenarios that have such a strong identity it almost feels like Valve’s classic Half-Life levels.

Across multiplayer and single-player (which shouldn’t even have existed, given how much Titanfall stretched itself thin trying to be a dedicated multiplayer game like Overwatch) Respawn has mixed a dash of charm and with a love of physics to create a game that fundamentally understands why shooters can still showcase top-notch design.

Thumper by Drool

When you play Thumper, you’re just pressing a button and combining that with a direction, at designated points on a track. That physical simplicity allows you to lose your senses to the game, as you’re shoved down the throat of a grotesque monster. Thumper is the perfect intersection audio-visual intensity; it’s synesthesia on a hard drive. - Kris Graft

Pretty varied list. More at the link

===

Mod Abuse

Eolz said:
So for those that didn't click the link, here's the individual GOTY lists they picked those choices from:
Kris Graft (include Thumper, Rez Infinite, NMS, TLG, Doom...)
Alex Wawro (include Deus Ex, Dragon Quest Builders, Firewatch, TF2, Tyranny...)
Bryant Francis (include Hyper Light Drifter, Owlboy, TF2, Tyranny, Witcher 3 B&W...)
Katherine Cross (includes Civ VI, Ladykiller in a bind, SWTOR, VA11 HALL-A...)
Chris Baker (includes Abzu, Inside, Pokemon Go, Uncharted 4...)
Alissa McAloon (includes Digimon Cyber Sleuth, Pokemon S&M, Stardew Valley, TMS#FE, WD2...)
Chris Kerr (includes BF1, The Division, NMS, Quantum Break, Reigns, UC4...)
Phill Cameron (includes Battlerite, Dishonored 2, Mini Metro, R6 Siege, Stephen's Sausage Roll...)
(and Brandon Sheffield who made a list of his top 5 indie games from 2016 not made in the USA)

Their own lists are super varied, they just had to make a final top 10 after putting all their lists there. It's not that the final list is somehow superior or anything like that.

A lot of great recommendations here:

Missing

Missing is a flawed, but very interesting game. It's about young girls being sold into prostitution – you play as the young girl. It's made by a solo dev in India, with input from former sex workers, with the intention of raising awareness of the plight of women sold into prostitution.

My Last Friday

The demo starts out with you in a bloody room, as do many – but the way the environmental storytelling basically leads you to learn that this is taking place before (or during!?) your prom is like… yikes. It's weird, man.

Stephen''s Sausage Roll

The tragedy of Stephen’s Sausage Roll, and what makes it perhaps the best puzzle game I’ve ever played, is that it believes that I am smarter than I am. That doesn’t mean it just throws horribly hard puzzles at me and expects me to solve them, but instead, like the beast teachers, it creates an environment where I am subconsciously massaged towards the solution. No hand holding, no slow ramp of practice puzzles before introducing a new concept.

Imbroglio

I sampled a lot of mobile games this year--hello Clash Royale--but this is the one that I spent the most time with. Every time I launched it, I promised myself that I would try to play it with critical distance, so that I could appreciate the brilliant minimalist design. But I kept getting so wrapped up in trying to defeat my foes and extend the length of my play sessions that I forgot to apply rigorous critical analysis. In honor of the ingenious simplicity of Michael Brough's formula, I will simply say: it is good.

Event[0]

Event[0] is lovingly sculpted around a chatbot, and how you talk to them can make all the difference in the world. I’m a known AI partisan who welcomes her forthcoming robot overlords, but it’s such an easy thing to larder with trite cliches and bad writing when used in fiction. Ocelot Society, by contrast, wove a moving story around Kaizen that gently entices us to consider deep questions that will stay with you long after you quit the game.

Killing Time at Lightspeed

You play a person on an intergalactic journey that takes only minutes from their perspective, while years go by on Earth. You interact via a Twitter-like interface, talking to your Earthbound friends as the minutes/years tick by, watching the world change in the blink of an eye. This creative premise is beautifully executed; despite occasionally uneven writing--inevitable, as it was crowdsourced--the world intrigues, and you end up caring about the people behind the game’s yellow pixelated avatars more than you might expect.

Valley

Valley is a game about balance and wonder that shows how high-speed, first-person movement can still be a formula for good narrative design. It snuck out earlier this year from Blue Isle Studios, the developers of Slender: The 8 Pages, and it's a game that continually finds new and interesting ways to get players to experiment with speed and physics and introduces them to a life/death system that seducingly lures players into the stakes of its Indiana Jones-inspired setting.

Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor

For many people, games are safe spaces. Places where you can be safely challenged, safely scared, safely thrilled. I don't fully understand (yet) what Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor is "about", but I love it as a space where I can feel safely bewildered. Everything about this game -- from the janitor you guide to the characters you meet to the places you go -- is charming, colorful, and utterly confounding in the best way.

Duskers

People talk about virtual reality like it’s the pinnacle of immersion in the realm of video games. But few games are as immersive as Duskers, which tells you that your computer at your desk in your house is mission control for deep-space probes that have the perilous task of clearing out derelict spaceships.

Cess007 · Dec 21, 2016

The best answer I can come up with is that Uedas vision of companionship shined bright enough that The Last Guardians flaws didnt matter much to me.

I can totally agree with this conclusion. Like 100% agree.

DrunkShogun · Dec 21, 2016

Cess007 said:
I can totally agree with this conclusion. Like 100% agree.

This is true. Damn trico and his puppy eyes. Never have I petted a creature so much.

nortonff · Dec 21, 2016

So Mafia 3 is better than Uncharted 4 huh?
I haven't played them yet, but based on Gamesutra I will buy Mafia 3 first.

More_Badass · Dec 21, 2016

nortonff said:
So Mafia 3 is better than Uncharted 4 huh?
I haven't played them yet, but based on Gamesutra I will buy Mafia 3 first.

Vital Tundra said:
Glad to see places ignore Uncharted. It's fine, but did nothing special with gameplay. Walk, talk, jump with no risk, shoot a tiny bit, repeat.

Come on, you know that's not how GOTY lists work.

Vital Tundra · Dec 21, 2016

Glad to see places ignore Uncharted. It's fine, but did nothing special with gameplay. Walk, talk, jump with no risk, shoot a tiny bit, repeat.

eXistor · Dec 21, 2016

Cess007 said:
I can totally agree with this conclusion. Like 100% agree.

I agree but to a much lesser degree. He says the level design is unintuitive and I just flat-out disagree, it's one of the best parts of the game. Camera isn't awful, it's mediocre. Trico is unwieldy, but in all the right ways. I'm not saying the technical side of it all is perfect, but it's nowhere near as bad as people would have you believe. GOTY btw for me.

Gurnlei · Dec 21, 2016

Love seeing Stardew Valley on all these lists. The years of waiting was worth it.

Theorry · Dec 21, 2016

Forza Horizon 3 got robbed.
Overall decent list.

silva1991 · Dec 21, 2016

eXistor said:
I agree but to a much lesser degree. He says the level design is unintuitive and I just flat-out disagree, it's one of the best parts of the game. Camera isn't awful, it's mediocre. Trico is unwieldy, but in all the right ways. I'm not saying the technical side of it all is perfect, but it's nowhere near as bad as people would have you believe. GOTY btw for me.

Agreed. The level design is the best thing since Dark souls 1 for me.

Bronetta · Dec 21, 2016

Its an interesting list that's for sure.

For someone who doesnt do mobile or VR, that crosses a few titles off this list Ill never try.

The First Guardian · Dec 21, 2016

nortonff said:
So Mafia 3 is better than Uncharted 4 huh?
I haven't played them yet, but based on Gamesutra I will buy Mafia 3 first.

You are going to make a mistake.

rafa · Dec 21, 2016

nortonff said:
So Mafia 3 is better than Uncharted 4 huh?
I haven't played them yet, but based on Gamesutra I will buy Mafia 3 first.

Mafia 3 and Uncharted 4 have almost nothing in common. Would you say Titanfall 2 is better than Hitman?

MegaSackman · Dec 21, 2016

eXistor said:
I agree but to a much lesser degree. He says the level design is unintuitive and I just flat-out disagree, it's one of the best parts of the game. Camera isn't awful, it's mediocre. Trico is unwieldy, but in all the right ways. I'm not saying the technical side of it all is perfect, but it's nowhere near as bad as people would have you believe. GOTY btw for me.

Yeah that's my opinion as well, is not that bad really and level design is god tier.

More_Badass · Dec 21, 2016

Bronetta said:
Its an interesting list that's for sure.

For someone who doesnt do mobile or VR, that crosses a few titles off this list Ill never try.

Mobile has a lot of great titles (that aren't Clash Royale or F2P)

ViewtifulJC · Dec 21, 2016

Mafia 3

SecretMoblin · Dec 21, 2016

Tried Clash Royale and didn't like the crazy timers right out of the gate, but the concept is cute.

Glad mobile is getting more recognition over time from "core" gamers. Some are surprisingly (?) deep, even F2P games.

Cess007 · Dec 21, 2016

eXistor said:
I agree but to a much lesser degree. He says the level design is unintuitive and I just flat-out disagree, it's one of the best parts of the game. Camera isn't awful, it's mediocre. Trico is unwieldy, but in all the right ways. I'm not saying the technical side of it all is perfect, but it's nowhere near as bad as people would have you believe. GOTY btw for me.

Oh no belive me, I don't agree with that; I think level design is incredible good. Ueda has a knack for making places that feels like a real place rather than a level.

But my comment was more on the conclusion; that regardless whatever the flaws the game may have (camera, framerate, etc); personally, the game is still one of the best of the year.

CopperPuppy · Dec 21, 2016

Just happy to see that Thumper recognition.

commish · Dec 21, 2016

SecretMoblin said:
Tried Clash Royale and didn't like the crazy timers right out of the gate, but the concept is cute.

Glad mobile is getting more recognition over time from "core" gamers. Some are surprisingly (?) deep, even F2P games.

Crazy timers? You can play as much as you want for free. There are timers on chests but you can always play, collect gold and advance ranks.

Anyway, I would definitely put CR on my top 10 list. Certainly my most played game.

shira · Dec 21, 2016

Clash Royale

Wow. Mobile is the new AAA

tattooed_dwarf · Dec 21, 2016

CopperPuppy said:
Just happy to see that Thumper recognition.

Yep, it's great game that gets always overlooked.

higemaru · Dec 21, 2016

I know Overwatch and Uncharted 4 have won the most awards but The Last Guardian and Doom have been seeing a lot of love from the outlets I respect the most which I'm happy to see.

Now I just need to play those games.

Messofanego · Dec 21, 2016

Thumper, hell yeah!

Hardest but most satisfying game I've played all year.

Skinpop · Dec 21, 2016

people are forgetting the witness

Aaron D. · Dec 21, 2016

I really need to carve out some time for Firewatch.

ghibli99 · Dec 21, 2016

Cess007 said:
I can totally agree with this conclusion. Like 100% agree.

Same here. It's such a good, important point about why TLG is so special.

Owensboro · Dec 21, 2016

Messofanego said:
Thumper, hell yeah!
http://i.imgur.com/pkSGRUv.gif
Hardest but most satisfying game I've played all year.

I've been holding off on Thumper simply because I plan on some day (not in the next 2-4 months) getting a VR setup. So a quick question for everyone who's played it, is VR necessary? Or does the game hold up fine without it? For reference, I played Rez's Area X in regular mode and was still amazed by it even without VR.

eerik9000 · Dec 21, 2016

Aaron D. said:
I really need to carve out some time for Firewatch.

Not really, it's only 3 hours or so.

Anno · Dec 21, 2016

Aaron D. said:
I really need to carve out some time for Firewatch.

It's only a 3-4 hours, though it's probably best if it's all in one sitting.

methane47 · Dec 21, 2016

I am so behind on games. I haven't played a single one of those yet.

Realeza · Dec 21, 2016

Brought to you by the people that named Hello Games one of the top developers of the year. This list continues their trend.

Eridani · Dec 21, 2016

Owensboro said:
I've been holding off on Thumper simply because I plan on some day (not in the next 2-4 months) getting a VR setup. So a quick question for everyone who's played it, is VR necessary? Or does the game hold up fine without it? For reference, I played Rez's Area X in regular mode and was still amazed by it even without VR.

I liked it just fine without VR, and I can't see why it would be necessary. It does seem like it would be pretty awesome in VR though.

silva1991 · Dec 21, 2016

I had a pic of Thumper just to remind me that I need to play it one day even though I still have no idea what it's about. visually it looks really cool.

Aaron D. · Dec 21, 2016

eerik9000 said:
Not really, it's only 3 hours or so.

Anno said:
It's only a 3-4 hours, though it's probably best if it's all in one sitting.

Yeah, I know it's short.

Maybe I should use my words better. It's more like I need to be in the right head-space to fully enjoy Firewatch.

I don't need to be sold on the game or anything. I was into the concept (LOVED Gone Home) and dev (LOVE Idle Thumbs) well before release.

It's just...I haven't been in the mood for this type of game in a long time. I've been pretty obsessed with systems-driven titles of late (RimWorld, Farming Sim, Software Inc., CK2, etc.).

I'll get there eventually. And I'm sure I'll LOVE it.

The Antitype · Dec 21, 2016

Happy to see the love for Mafia 3.

I enjoyed the hell out of that game. One of the best stories of the year, without question.

MegaSackman · Dec 21, 2016

Owensboro said:
I've been holding off on Thumper simply because I plan on some day (not in the next 2-4 months) getting a VR setup. So a quick question for everyone who's played it, is VR necessary? Or does the game hold up fine without it? For reference, I played Rez's Area X in regular mode and was still amazed by it even without VR.

Played the demo in VR, really inmersive but I would consider a good headset over VR.

SecretMoblin · Dec 21, 2016

commish said:
Crazy timers? You can play as much as you want for free. There are timers on chests but you can always play, collect gold and advance ranks.

Anyway, I would definitely put CR on my top 10 list. Certainly my most played game.

Oh, that's good to know. I was under the impression that if I got a gold (?) chest but already had lesser chests on cooldown the chest was lost or something, it was confusing.

Battles were a bit harrowing and occasionally frustrating but pretty quick and enjoyable, perhaps I'll give it another go.

More_Badass · Dec 21, 2016

Owensboro said:
I've been holding off on Thumper simply because I plan on some day (not in the next 2-4 months) getting a VR setup. So a quick question for everyone who's played it, is VR necessary? Or does the game hold up fine without it? For reference, I played Rez's Area X in regular mode and was still amazed by it even without VR.

It's perfectly enjoyable played regularly, but VR is supposed to be insane

Realeza said:
Brought to you by the people that named Hello Games one of the top developers of the year. This list continues their trend.

The horror, right? It's just madness that someone might not share the same opinion as you

TemplaerDude · Dec 21, 2016

Realeza said:
Brought to you by the people that named Hello Games one of the top developers of the year. This list continues their trend.

What trend.

Wedzi · Dec 21, 2016

Cool to see Clash Royale get some love. I know it's probably going to be overlooked by a lot of hardcore gamers for being a free to play mobile game but it's some of the most fun I've ever had on the platform. Also nice to see Apple give it game of the year as well on the App Store.

Dalibor68 · Dec 21, 2016

TemplaerDude said:
What trend.

Of weird omissions and adding critical failures/negatively controversial games(/studios), I'd guess.

Does anyone know when the neogaf goty voting thread starts? I think last year it was 21/12 but there's nothing today yet

Messofanego · Dec 21, 2016

Owensboro said:
I've been holding off on Thumper simply because I plan on some day (not in the next 2-4 months) getting a VR setup. So a quick question for everyone who's played it, is VR necessary? Or does the game hold up fine without it? For reference, I played Rez's Area X in regular mode and was still amazed by it even without VR.

Absolutely not necessary, it's still amazing in regular mode.

More_Badass · Dec 21, 2016

Dalibor68 said:
Of weird omissions and adding critical failures/negatively controversial games(/studios), I'd guess.

Does anyone know when the neogaf goty voting thread starts? I think last year it was 21/12 but there's nothing today yet

Would a list without Titanfall, Dark Souls, Overwatch, Uncharted, Doom, Deus Ex, Dishonored, and so on count as featuring weird omissions?

Owensboro · Dec 21, 2016

Eridani said:
I liked it just fine without VR, and I can't see why it would be necessary. It does seem like it would be pretty awesome in VR though.

MegaSackman said:
Played the demo in VR, really inmersive but I would consider a good headset over VR.

Messofanego said:
Absolutely not necessary, it's still amazing in regular mode.

Hrmm, maybe I'll pick Thumper up, play it, and then just remember to come back to it in VR at some point. Might be fun to have both experiences instead of only having the VR version. I assume it's pretty replayable as long as you like the music (a la Rez)?

---
Also, I hate how every "Game of the Year" thread on this forum just becomes an exhausting, insufferable tear-down of everything. Jesus people, can't we just celebrate and talk about how many awesome games there were this year instead of just trying to shit on everything? I always enjoy awards season because it points out games I hadn't tried yet (Thumper, Stardew Valley, Mafia 3), but instead I'm starting to hate it because of constant "GOOD, X GAME SUCKS AND WASN'T ON THE LIST!" or "Y GAME IS SUCH A STUPID CHOICE, IT'S JUST A [insert word] SIMULATOR".

I assume I was just able to look past all this negativity in previous years, but for some reason this year it's bugging the hell out of me.

ohhthegore · Dec 21, 2016

CopperPuppy said:
Just happy to see that Thumper recognition.

this

InsaneTiger · Dec 21, 2016

Vital Tundra said:
Glad to see places ignore Uncharted. It's fine, but did nothing special with gameplay. Walk, talk, jump with no risk, shoot a tiny bit, repeat.

Mafia 3 has a similar boring gameplay loop. Every missions, every boss kill is exactly the same, no variety. The only redeeming part of Mafia 3 is the story.

Budi · Dec 21, 2016

InsaneTiger said:
Mafia 3 has a similar boring gameplay loop. Every missions, every boss kill is exactly the same, no variety. The only redeeming part of Mafia 3 is the story.

I don't know about only redeeming part. I think the gunplay is good, melee finishers feel great and driving especially with simulated setting is a blast. I don't think story would had been enough for me to complete the game with the repetitive structure, but good gameplay makes up for it. That being said, it probably wont just quite get in my TOP 10 of the year.

I don't really play mobile games at all. But whenever I go and visit my mother I play Clash Royale on her phone, it's really fun and especially addictive.

MrS · Dec 21, 2016

Vital Tundra said:
Glad to see places ignore Uncharted. It's fine, but did nothing special with gameplay. Walk, talk, jump with no risk, shoot a tiny bit, repeat.

Wonder how the guys at ND are reacting to it...

Manu · Dec 21, 2016

rafa said:
Mafia 3 and Uncharted 4 have almost nothing in common. Would you say Titanfall 2 is better than Hitman?

And that's why picking only one GOTY is dumb, see.

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